Crimson Shakugan: Rays of Light
by TTY7
Summary: Kousagi Chiba, the second daughter of Queen Serenity, has but one wish: to prevent her existence to save her mother's life and stop a war from occurring as a result. However, on a routine trip through the past, a time warp sends her to a separate dimension. Now stuck where she doesn't belong, Kousagi will be forced to fight alongside the Z fighters while searching for the way home.
1. Quandary

A/N: I need to stop starting new stories like this, but my mind is just going on overload with ideas. If I don't write them down, they'll be gone, so here goes.

Warnings: With this story I'm trying out a new writing style. The first two chapters of this story are actually going to take two separate events during the DBZ saga and tell aspects of it out-of-order from the point of view of a relatively unknown Sailor Moon character, Kousagi, before introducing a concrete beginning that starts from the points of view of the other characters or in third person as well as Kousagi herself. Also, aspects of Kousagi's personality as well as her physical appearance have been slightly altered as well as pieces of her back-story which I'll introduce later on. In hindsight, this version of Kousagi created by me and my friend Princesa De la Luna could be counted as an OC to some degree, but not enough to actually be called one. So, she's basically an alternate version of herself...if that makes any sort of sense. If it doesn't...well, I tried.

Special thanks to Princesa De La Luna and Pyromania 101 for inspiring this story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Dragoball Z

Crimson Shakugan

Chapter 1

Quandary

It had started out as a completely normal day for the people of the Earth. The sun was shining brightly in the big blue sky, the waves of the ocean were lapping at the shores of the sandy beaches, children were playing in the sand, reckless teens were surfing the slightly turbulent waves, and laughs echoed the whistling wind. In the city, people went about their business, others simply walked around enjoying ice cream cones and smoothies. Impatient drivers were yelling a bit angrily as they swerved around drivers who were calmly cruising the road, enjoying the nice spring weather. Butterflies were dancing through the air, their beautiful wings taking them higher and higher. Everything was perfectly peaceful.

Of course, nothing was ever completely peaceful in my life. Even so, I had become accustomed to fighting all the time thanks to the people I dejectedly hung around, though honestly, I was actually happy to be back with them for the day. I was happy to enjoy the festivities as well as the silly exchanges between them as the World Martial Arts Tournament went underway. I, along with many of my crazy friends, had entered, sweeping through the preliminary round without any trouble at all.

Excitement had filled me. For once I could soak up the bounties of life instead of brooding over the sins of my past. Today, I had intended to live life to the to fullest, to make fond memories with the people I loved, and then say goodbye once more to walk a separate path from them.

It was never supposed to turn out like this.

Terrified screams echoed throughout the stands after a ki blast had blown a hole through the stadium for the second time. Smoke filled the air, the wreckage and obvious bloodshed swirling around me and my friends...

Friends who were now preparing to fight each other.

It wasn't a new thing for Vegeta to challenge Goku to a battle. The Saiyan prince was always adamant about proving himself, always proclaiming that he was the strongest warrior of his nearly extinct race. The words falling from his lips as he screamed at the Supreme Kai were words I had heard him speak long before this moment, but now the words are fueled with pure hatred and disgust for the Saiyan raised on Earth. Pent up rage was finally being released onto the unsuspecting spectators in the stands.

Then there was Goku, having transformed into a Super Saiyan, was staring coldly at his greatest rival with an uncharacteristic scowl on his face as he clenched his hands into tight fists. Though he had asked Babadi to transport us to a place away from people, I felt that he may as well fight in the stadium with everyone watching.

The reason: because with Vegeta's mind being controlled, their fight will supply energy to a monster that holds the potential to destroy not only Earth but the entire universe. How I knew this wasn't just because of the Supreme Kai's words. No, words would have never been enough to convince me that something so deadly could actually exist.

But that monster does exist.

I can feel the endless void of pulsating energy below my feet, deep down beneath the Earth's crust. I know without a doubt that if I allow this battle to occur, the monster will awaken and all will be lost. Everything I've done up until now to protect this world rendered meaningless in the process.

This reason is the sole purpose for standing between the two men who had become like fathers to me, knowing that there isn't any way to stop them once their minds are set on a fight, especially one so personal for them. All I know at this moment is that I have to try something. I have to do something to put an end to this fight before it can begin.

Goku's teal gaze bores into mine, his hand already positioned in my direction, mere seconds standing in the way of being blasted with a deadly ki blast. "Don't get in the way, Kousagi."

Shaking my head I take a battle stance, readying myself for what I would have to do, the sins I would have to commit to ensure the safety of the people dearest to my heart and all the citizens of the planet.

I hated knowing that more blood was about to be poured on my hands, but as Sailor Earth, I still have a duty to uphold. It no longer matters that Goku has saved this world time and time again or that I see him and Vegeta as family. The undeniable truth in the matter is this fact.

If they fight, this planet is history. Despite everyone's belief that everything can be fixed, that every sin can be eradicated by using the mystical Dragonballs, I know that this world will face destruction by the hands of this monster called Majin Buu.

Understanding Goku and Vegeta's desires of settling the score once and for all makes no difference to me now. I will protect this world no matter the cost.

For that end, I'm prepared to sacrifice my life, my humanity, the lessons I've learned, and the relationships that have held me together through the toughest years of my life.

The past flashes before my eyes, reminding me of just how much these people have changed me and yet how little I've affected them. Perhaps I'm selling myself too short. It's a habit I inherited in my early childhood days. In those times I was loved by few and hated by the majority. Automatically I assumed it was because of personal iniquities, but in actuality people were blaming me for an event I held no control over and for a time I shared in their hatred of me.

Sometimes I still do. Old habits die hard I suppose.

Even so, there's one thing that has always spurned me on. More than the love for my family and the friends I've made here.

My duty to the Earth

The planet has no feelings for itself or anything else, but it is full of energy and life. The planet has no emotions; therefore, it cannot hate or love but simply exists. This world continues to live on throughout the human experience, it existed before human experience and will probably live long after it ends. Nature is the most beautiful thing to me, from the shapes of the land to the oceans, from the vast valleys to the tallest mountains, from the sunny days to the most vicious of storms...everything about Earth fascinates and excites me. I can feel each tectonic plate moving underneath me and enjoy every season.

My connection to Earth gave me purpose in a life that felt meaningless and still does now. As much as I love my friends...they could never hope to give what the Earth has given me...except maybe...

* * *

A/N: And that's the first chapter. That's the first narrative. One more before the official beginning of the story. Trust me, the actual beginning and what follows will be worth it. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Feel free to review. (I absolutely adore them and feel free to leave constructive criticism too.)

Also, because I just feel like it. I'm going to advertise some other stories (DBZ centric) by different authors that I've found enjoyable on this site.

1. Unspoken~ by Faded Colors  
There was always something about him that made her stay. Keiko knew it would never be simple with Goku, but she couldn't get away. Goku/OC  
Rated: T- English - Romance/Adventure - Goku - Chapters: 44 - Words: 243,983 - Reviews: 277 - Favs: 128 - Follows: 94 - Updated: 01-09-13 - Published: 12-19-11 - Status: Complete - id: 7651897

2. In the End~ by The Red Habanero  
The look didn't suit a Saiyan, but Goku was always a special case. "You have beaten me once again, Kakarot. Even in death." Oneshot.  
Rated: T - English - Tragedy/Friendship - Vegeta & Goku - Words: 1,033 - Reviews: 10 - Favs: 12 - Published: 12-31-12 - Status: Complete - id: 8857948

Buu Saga: How It Should Have Been~ by HHR2b23  
Gohan had defeated Cell, and the world is safe, but how will Gohan be able to defend the earth when Chi Chi insists he studies? How will he convince Chi Chi to allow him to fight? And how will this affect what happens when an ancient evil arises?  
Rated: K+ - English - Adventure - Gohan & Videl - Chapters: 11 - Words: 62,749 - Reviews: 150 - Favs: 116 - Follows: 140 - Updated: 10-17-12 - Published: 06-14-12 - id: 8218884

All the above stories are great! If you love DBZ, check them out! That's all for me at this time. I'll be back with chapter two later today!


	2. Death

A/N: Hi everyone! Here is the next chapter! This one pinpoints another event that takes place within the story but where it takes place is all a mystery. You'll have to figure it out, then wait and see what happens as the story continues. As for this chapter, let the fun continue!

Warnings: Again, this is in Kousagi's point of view. Because of this, these little snippets are probably confusing, especially since I'm going out-of-order for the time being. Nonetheless, there will be more DBZ involved in this chapter and by the next chapter I promise that this story will start making sense. Until then...don't try to understand anything yet. It will come with time because these first two chapters aren't meant to be cohesive. Also, this chapter is ten times shorter than the last one.

Special thanks to Princesa De La Luna and Pyromania 101 for inspiring this story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z or Sailor Moon.

Chapter 2

Death

"You're insufferably weak Kousagi Chiba."

I've heard statements like that before plenty of times in my lifetime, albeit while bleeding and crying out in pain just as I was now. The words themselves didn't bother me, a part of me believed those words anyhow. Of course, I never used that belief as an excuse to allow people to take advantage or abuse me. Instead I trained my body to become stronger every day, to push myself past my limits without losing control of the powers sealed deep within me. Each day I lived has been a fight for survival to some extent, against enemies of my homeland, against those within the bureaucratic system of the government, against comrades who wanted nothing more but to see me dead, and even against myself.

"There is no way for you to win." Footsteps alerted me that my death was looming closer and closer. "You are going to die along with Gohan and all the others."

That's the irony of all this. My entire life I've wanted nothing more but to die, to erase my existence completely, to never be born at all. Preventing my birth has been my mission for as long as I can remember.

But now, right at this moment, I want to live, to fight, to unleash my true potential and wipe that vindictive smirk off Cell's face. He's right in saying I can't defeat him, but surely I can weaken him and buy some time.

Never have I willingly walked into a battle knowing I couldn't win ahead of time. Logically speaking, it's stupid for me to keep fighting this abomination. He has me and everyone else around me cornered and the only one who can stop him is completely frozen in hesitance. The poor kid shouldn't be here. He shouldn't have to carry the fate of the Earth on his shoulders. That's supposed to be my job. It was always meant to be my job, even if my life's mission was to prevent my existence.

Now I understand that my life does hold value. It's not much, but Trunks told me...he told me something I should have realized sooner, that every life has a purpose mine included. And Gohan...

Slowly I lift myself up to my elbows, watching as my blood stains the rocky ground beneath me. Cell is looming close behind, drawing out my suffering for his enjoyment, but I'm not interested in what he's doing at this point. Instead I lock my gaze squarely on Gohan's.

The helplessness reflected in his teal eyes convinces me of what I need to do from here. Reaching for my sword lying nearby, I make up my mind to step up to the plate, to let go of any lingering fear, give everything I have to this fight for Gohan's sake, and allow my sacrifice, my death to serve as the catalyst for him to unleash his own inner strength.

If my existence serves any purpose, then this is it.

* * *

A/N: Probably the shortest chapter I've ever written for any story. As of now, Kousagi is shrouded in mystery. You guys don't even know what she looks like. (Remember my friend Princesa De La Luna and I changed how she looks entirely from what you'll find if you look up her character on Goggle images.) The next chapter starts the true beginning to this story and will eliminate some of the mystery surrounding Ms. Kousagi Chiba. There isn't a lot of DBZ incorporated yet or even Sailor Moon for that matter, but again, that'll change in the next chapter. Stay tuned to get some answers behind the mystery of Kousagi Chiba. Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be up soon!


	3. The Journey Started on a Midnight Dreary

A/N: And now the true first chapter of the story! Parts of this chapter will look familiar to those who have read my other crossover story Aquamarine, also starring the relatively unknown character known as Kousagi Tsukino, though in this story her name is Kousagi Chiba. (She takes her father's last name.) Also, Kousagi's apperance in this story and her back-story are all derived from conversations I've had with my friend Princesa De La Luna. She introduced Kousagi's character to me and we both thought that she looked a little too much like Rini/Chibiusa originally, so we changed it up so she'd look a little more like Darien/Mamoru. So you'll finally know what she looks like in this thing. (Though technically you know already because of the cover image...)

Warnings: This chapter doesn't have anything from Dragonball Z in it. Also, I use a mix of the Japanese and English names for the Sailor Moon characters. Serena instead of Usagi, Michiru instead of Michelle, etc. And we're still in Kousagi's point of view for now.

Special thanks to Princesa De La Luna and Pyromania101 for inspiring this story.

Also, I dedicate this chapter to my good friend Light-Sakura for always supporting my new projects now matter how crazy, ridiculous, or just flat-out random they are. You have my thanks and appreciation soul sista.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Dragonball Z.

Chapter 3

The Journey Started on a Midnight Dreary

Many years earlier

March 12th, 2041

12:00 a.m.

The night is eerily dark tonight. The stars that usually light up the sky aren't out and the moon is black, signifying the start of the next moon cycle. Within the palace walls of the mystic kingdom of Crystal Tokyo, I, Kousagi Chiba stand, staring out of my bedroom window, putting off my departure from this place for a routine trip. In my reflection I see the features of the two people responsible for my existence. Aquamarine eyes framed with long lashes, thick raven locks falling midway down my back, flawless pale skin, full lips, high cheek bones, and a cute button nose are features displayed in my reflection.

Life should have been easy for me.

I was born into a royal family. From the time I was small I had servants all too willing to follow my every command. Among those servants I have eight fearless bodyguards who've been assigned to protect me, not to mention that I have an older sister who's constantly worrying over me.

My father was the king over the entire world. He could have given me anything I asked for and more if he had wanted to. No one defied him and no one questioned his decisions because he was an honorable man. His only weakness lied in his concerns for my sister. He would do anything to protect her and give up anything to ensure that she never faced the hardships he did.

Unfortunately, reality intervened and made him helpless. As powerful as my father was and still is, he couldn't conquer the bindings of death.

And he couldn't bring my mother back from the grave.

Neo Queen Serenity was my mother's royal title, but on a day-to-day basis she went by the name Serena Tsukino. Actually, a good while before she became queen of the world she was just a young high school student trying to find her way while fighting crime every now and again as Sailor Moon. Sailor Venus, known only to me and my sister as Minako Aino, is always telling me about my mother's adventures and pinheaded moments. Her nickname was Odango, or meatball head according to Sailor Mars a.k.a. Rei Hino. She would always start on a rant about how my mother was never on time, ate far too many sweets, and couldn't keep her mouth shut on any occasion. As the two of them told their stories along with the other six sailor soldiers, my sister Chibiusa (though she'd rather be called Rini for some odd reason), would laugh and exchange her memories of what mom was like.

I would have loved to share in those memories, but the truth is that I've never met my mother.

That's why I find myself preparing to take a routine trip that will take me a good twenty-five years into the past, nine years before I was born, and nine years before my mother's death.

My life should have been a life with prestige and privilege, but that was never the case. Yeah, I have some servants and bodyguards who are close to being my friends. My big sister looks out for me and has never let me down. Even though I'm positive I'll end up being a little taller than her, I'll still look up to her and see her as the mother figure in my life.

But the one thing I want…the one thing I'll never have is my father's love.

The truth of the matter is this. My mother was only supposed to have one child as an heir to the throne of Crystal Tokyo. It was all part of some mystic law of destiny. If a moon queen became pregnant and gave birth to a second child, a second girl specifically, it would be the death of her. This second child's strength would prove far too powerful to be controlled. This second daughter would bring about the end of the world.

Sailor Pluto, Rini's guardian and the keeper of time, told my mother this. Judging by the fact that everyone thought of my mom as a meatball head, I'm fairly certain Sailor Pluto explained this over and over again until she was convinced my mother understood. Thinking about it now almost makes me laugh because I know my mother was a brilliant woman despite her flaws.

More than that though, my mother was brave and defiantly protective until the bitter end. Despite the harsh truth that some of the Sailor Soldiers and my father wanted me aborted, she stood by me and accepted death as her fate. Even though I was nothing but a gathering of cells, she loved me with all of her heart.

I live only because she loved me.

When my mother died, there was a great outcry in the world. She had been a beacon of life and love for people all over this crazy planet not to mention that she had saved the universe a couple of times. Losing her was a cutting blow to the hearts of millions and even more so for the people who loved and respected her most. From that day forward, people looked upon me as a demon. Yes, I am hated by all, excluding a handful of people who wished to honor my mother's memory, including my sister, Sailor Mars, Sailor Venus, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Saturn. The other Sailor Soldiers have decided to protect me, but they won't say much to me because they despise what I symbolize. I'm the monster that will bring ruin to the world.

My father is the same way. Not once have we ever exchanged a decent conversation with one another and I know that we never will. He tried to be a father to me. He stepped down as king and allowed Chibiusa, ugh, Rini to rule the kingdom to raise me without distractions. I've always commended him for giving it his best shot, but he could never hide the truth from me and often lashed out despite himself. I don't hate him for it, nor do I feel any hostility toward him for anything he's done to me physically and emotionally. After mom died, a piece of him died as well, probably the best piece. In any case, the result of his drastic change is my fault.

For this reason and others, I decided that I would devote my life to helping people. Destiny would not decide my fate or the fate of the world. I spent years secretly training and developing the powers that connect me to the moon and the earth, even sealed off my darker powers using a forbidden spell from an old book hidden behind a loose tile in the back wall of the castle library. I focused all of my energy into making a new legacy for myself and maintaining the legacy my mother had left behind.

Unfortunately my efforts weren't enough. Twelve years after my mother's death, war broke out in the kingdom. Rini tried her best to maintain the peace, but there was no appeasing the people of the planet. They didn't trust her as they had trusted my mother, mainly because she made no attempt to hide her love for me even knowing the destiny that awaited me. A group of terrorists and even members of our own army created new war machines for the sole purpose of destroying us. After my sister prevented a ruthless coup d'état within the ranks of our government, Sailor Soldiers beyond the solar system came to earth, seeking vengeance for the death of my mother.

I would never be able to forget the faces of the enraged Sailor Starlights. They stormed the palace walls with a legion of warriors behind them. More of our own turned against my sister and many lives were lost as a result.

I became Sailor Earth on that day.

It happened when I stumbled into the throne room, having barely escaped Sailor Star Healer's last attack on me. She had dealt a blow to my head, causing blood to leak into my right eye. My left leg had been slashed open as well, hindering my movement as it bled out. The vision in my left eye was blurring in and out, making me drift between blindness and dulled sight.

Even though I was halfway blind and weak, there was no mistaking what lied beyond in the throne room. Sailor Star Fighter stood in the center, holding a white star-shaped device in her hand. My sister had lain on the floor, her white dress stained with blood.

Blinking away tears I took another faltering step into the room. "Chibi…usa?"

Her crimson gaze had immediately turned towards me, since I was the only one who called her by that name. "Kousagi-chan…run away…"

Sailor Star Fighter had turned her sharp sapphire gaze at me. Her outfit was all black. Black short shorts, black v-neck top, and black boots that went up to her thighs. The woman's raven hair was tied in a low pony-tail at the back of her head. "So, this is Princess Kousagi Terra Selene. This is the little demon that killed my Odango."

I flinched at the words, but my eyes never left my sister. "What did you do to Chibiusa-chan?"

Rini lifted herself into a sitting position, allowing me to see the full extent of her wounds. There was a long cut across her chest and burn marks on her arms and legs. "Stop…don't…Fighter!"

Fighter barely glanced back at her. "You know as well as I do that this must be done at some point. I cannot trust the task to you for she has bewitched your heart."

I heard footsteps come up behind me. "We will rid your soul of the curse that consumes you."

My gaze snapped backwards to find both Sailor Star Healer and Sailor Star Maker behind me. I moved away, taking backward steps further into the throne room as terror filled my soul.

Leaf green and violet eyes stared down at me in complete revulsion. The two of them poised themselves for an attack.

"This is for the sake of your world," Fighter stated, her footsteps echoing in the room. I watched as Maker took a few steps to the left of Healer. There had been an almost mocking grin on her face in that moment because she knew that I had nowhere left to run. All the routes for escape had been effectively cut off.

I turned to face Fighter again. "Please wait. Don't do this! My mother wouldn't want…"

"Enough!"

Fighter's shout of rage shut me up. I couldn't bring myself to say anything anymore. The three scouts from beyond the solar system were going to kill me and that would be the end of the story.

"Stop it! Leave my sister alone!"

It was then that Fighter made her final mistake.

In a fit of rage she sent an attack towards Rini.

"Star Serious Laser!"

"Noooooo!"

My screams of distress fell on death ears for Fighter did not show mercy. The electric shots slammed into Rini, forcing her already wounded body into the marble wall with a sickening bang.

There was a sorrowful look in Fighter's eyes as my sister slumped over, her blood staining the white marble. For a long moment I stared at her, watching for the rise and fall of her chest, but I couldn't see past the tears that had gathered in both of my eyes.

"Chibiusa-chan…"

From there I can't really remember everything that happened. Fighter had nodded for Healer and Maker to prepare themselves for another attack. This time they would be aiming all of their rage towards me.

My gaze had been locked on the floor. The little pride I had forced me to keep the tears that fell from my eyes hidden, but it didn't do me much good because sobs began to wrack through my body.

"You won't have to suffer for much longer," Fighter stated.

"We shall end your existence in all realms forever," Maker added.

"For you should have never been born."

Healer's words sent my blood boiling. I knew that others felt this way about me, but no one had ever dared to say it to my face. If that weren't enough, these monsters had hurt my big sister to the point of near death.

"You call me a demon," I stated, the sobs subsiding almost abruptly, "yet you are the ones who commit malevolent and sinful acts. That's so…hypocritical."

"We do this for the sake of the universe…"

"Shut up!" I screamed, cutting Fighter off before she could finish. With fire burning in my soul I stared the woman down with the eye I could see out of. "How dare you come into my home, threaten my family, and then pass it off as some kind of holy mission! My mother would have never stood for this and I won't stand for it either!"

Suddenly a bright golden aura surrounded my right hand. I glanced down, noting the small stream of energy as it thinned out into a loop around my wrist.

"What's this!?" Healer had shouted from somewhere behind me.

My eyes widened as the light dimmed, revealing a thick silver charm bracelet. Three different charms hung on it but only one of them continued to glow brightly. The charm was in the shape of a sword.

"Prepare to attack! Kill Kousagi!"

From there everything goes blank, but I know what happened thanks to Rini. She told me that I transformed into Sailor Earth and that I channeled my powers through a mystic sword to kill the Sailor Starlights. Then I saved her by using my powers to stabilize her condition until a doctor arrived an hour or so later. A few days after that, Rini went on to conquer the rebellious people and found a way to restore order.

In other words, in a fit of blind rage I killed three people. Granted they were trying to kill me, but I still felt awful about it.

Throughout that year, more battles forced me to become Sailor Earth and my second senshi form, Princess Sailor Earth. I have a third senshi form that I've used once, but similar to when I used my first senshi form for the first time, I can't remember the transformation or what happened afterward.

Not that it really matters anyway. I've tried to escape it, but war and death will always be a part of my life and someday, whether I like it or not, I'm going to bring about the end of the world. Trying to fight it is meaningless.

That's why from time to time; I travel back to the past looking for my mother as she was before she died. Sailor Pluto is always telling me that I shouldn't interfere with the past, but I never listen to what she says. I never listen to anyone aside from my sister and the few Sailor Soldiers that have earned my trust.

In the timeframe I'm about to visit, my mother moves from place to place a lot because it happens to be the year she first took her throne over the world…or at least that's what Rini is always telling me. In any case, searching for my mother during this period is difficult because she's never in the same place at any given time. So far I've had absolutely no luck in tracking her down.

Now, given the choice I would go back further in time, but doing so is risky…too risky. Going back too far would put Rini's existence in jeopardy. In the timeline I'm traveling to, she's only six years old.

My dream is to find my mother and tell her the truth about her future. If I can convince her to stray away from having a second daughter, she'll be able to live a full and happy life with my father and Rini. Peace will reign supreme and I'll disappear from existence, thus ensuring the safety of the planet.

In hindsight, the reason I go on living is to put an eventual end to my existence. Sometimes I wish that my powers hadn't kicked in nearly two years ago. At least then the world would already be saved.

Still, finding my mother and speaking with her has been my ultimate goal. Somehow, someday I have to find her…if only I could escape from my self-appointed job as guardian of Crystal Tokyo. If I could do that I'd be in the clear. I could go on searching and find my mother in no time at all.

Unfortunately, my father won't allow me to abandon my responsibilities, which means that I have to limit my trips to once a month to keep everyone from figuring out my plans…especially Rini. That girl would stop at nothing to protect me…just like our mom had.

With a sigh I turned away from the window to finish packing up my black duffel bag. Leaving now will give me exactly twenty-four hours to search through the timeline for her. I get the feeling that today will be the day I finally see her, finally give her the message she needs to hear.

Maybe that's why I'm so hesitant all of a sudden, because I know that after today...I won't exist anymore.

Shaking my head I throw in my favorite black zip-up sweat-shirt and a pair of dark-wash jeans. "_That'll be for the best. Your existence has caused nothing but pain in this world._" Another sigh escapes me as I zip up the duffel bag and sling it over my shoulder along with my sword; the same one I've used in battle after battle: Crimson Shakugan.

You could say that I'm heavily influenced by anime in that regard, naming my sword. In fact, its purpose and origin are derived practically from the same concept that's in the classic Bleach manga and anime. The sword manifested after I became Sailor Earth for the first time and works to channel my elemental powers in all three of my senshi forms, mainly fire since I'm really terrible at controlling it. Inside my mind, the sword represents the spiritual embodiment of my soul; however, the physical form of my sword has always been shrouded in a black fog, the only feature visible being its crimson red eyes. To add to the mysterious nature of this sword, the spirit inside doesn't seem to know anything about itself aside from the fact that it's female, so I gave her a name that's influenced by an anime known as Shakugan no Shana.

Thus, Crimson Shakugan was born.

My love for manga is something I picked up from Mina and Rei. The two of them are shameless otakus. They're constantly talking about the newest manga series when we all have time to relax, which isn't often in these times of war. If they aren't talking about that, their gossiping about hot guys in magazines. You'd think they'd be too old for that given that these women are in their forties now...how they manage to still look like twenty-year olds is definitely puzzling.

With any luck though, I won't have to ponder about how _that_ worked out for much longer.

Slowly I push open the tall French doors leading out of my room, praying that they won't creak.

"Creeeeeeeeeak..."

My expression probably deadpanned at the sound. "_Of course...how I'm surprised by this spout of bad luck is beyond me._"

With a quiet groan slipping through my lips I turned to push the door closed. The creaking sound echoed down the long, dimly lit hallway. Glancing down the sides of the hall I take quick steps forward, hoping the outer planet twins didn't hear the sound. Haruka and Michiru, Uranus and Neptune respectively, are like hawks during the night hours. Each and every sound finds a way to reach their ears, making it difficult to keep anything secret. I've managed this long though, so there's no way I'll let them catch me.

If they heard anything, that leaves me with about ten minutes to get out without the chance of being spotted...

"And just where do you think you're going?"

My eyebrows knitted together in annoyance as my sister's voice registered in my ears. Yeah, I may have forgotten to mention that Rini's bedroom is right next to mine. Normally she sleeps like a rock, but there are a few occasions when she'll stay up all night, working overtime on royal regulations and other such political nonsense. In any case, while the situation of her catching me in the middle of leaving to travel through time had never happened before, she has caught me leaving my room a few times in the past. If that door creaks and she's awake, Rini automatically checks up on me.

Turning around I clear my face of all emotion, wracking my brain for a believable excuse.

"Well," Rini asks, placing one hand on her hip and the other on top of her head of cotton candy locks which hung gracefully down toward the floor. She wore a loose white nightgown over her body and reading glasses in front of her eyes, making her look studious despite the clear exhaustion in her expression.

Smiling, I answered with the usual bravado. "I'm just going to get some training in. Like you, if I can't sleep I may as well get some work done..."

Rini's crimson eyes narrowed. "Kousagi-chan, it's only a few minutes past midnight. You normally stay up late watching anime until at least three."

_Crap! _"Yeah, well, tonight I want to get some training in," I countered, turning away from her so she wouldn't see the panic rising in my eyes. Through the vibrations in the ground I can feel when someone is approaching and right now Haruka and Michiru are on the move, headed in this exact direction.

"Kousagi, you're already training ten hours every day as well as guarding the city," Rini stated, taking a few steps toward me as I zipped up the front of my teal fur-lined jacket. "You shouldn't push yourself so much. Even a fierce warrior needs rest in order to stand tall against an enemy."

Normally I would argue that resting allowed an opportunity for the enemy to gain the upper hand in battle, but my time was running out. If my math is right, only seven minutes stand between me taking my routine trip through time and space or being found out, questioned, and locked in my room by the two outer scouts. As of now, Sailor Pluto is the only person who knows about these trips of mine. She feels that the past is already set in stone, that nothing can be done, but not once has she ever attempted to stop me. The other scouts, not knowing the whole picture, would definitely attempt it and my father...

I rather not think about what he might do to me should he ever find out. Like I said before, he tried his best to set aside his feelings of hatred toward me. However...

"D..don't worry," I muttered, inwardly cursing the slight stutter due to the horrific visions of father's past physical abuse fluttering through my head. It's one of the few things Rini has no knowledge about and for that I'm exceedingly grateful. Still, now isn't the time to reflect on the past. With any luck, it'll be erased by the end of the day.

"I'll be fine." Inclining my gaze over my shoulder I winked at Rini one last time, inwardly saying all my goodbyes and wishing her all the happiness she can soak up. "See you tomorrow." With that said, I took off in a sprint, hoping against all hopes that six minutes would be enough to escape this turbulent world for the day...maybe forever.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later

My breaths were erratic as I collapsed into the fragrant fields surrounding the outskirts of the city. Escaping the palace grounds without being caught by the outer twins had been a brutal task this time around thanks to Rini's interference. I had to run an extra two miles as a precautionary measure.

"_You sound pathetic._"

"Shut up," I muttered, sucking in deep breaths while clutching my sheathed sword a bit more tightly in my hand. "You're an inanimate object who really shouldn't talk...ever..."

"_I resent that!"_

Rolling my eyes I pushed myself up on my elbows, concentrating my energy on catching my breath while the spirit of my sword continued to rant on and on about me being the most disrespectful person she'd ever had the displeasure of knowing. The insult pretty much backfires on her though because we're ultimately the same person to a degree. Every comment she makes ends up being a double-edged blade.

"_Hey, I can hear you're inner monologue stupid! Quit it!"_

Without a word to the spirit I stood up, having mostly caught my breath. I glance in all directions, looking for any signs of Haruka and Michiru, but my eyes don't catch anything. Closing them, I concentrate on feeling the pulsations in the ground. Immediately I sense all the creatures beneath the surface, but ignore their life force, honing in on two of the many energy signatures I've memorized.

A smile comes to my face when I open my eyes. "_Good, they're still inside the palace. Perhaps they're questioning my sister on where I've run off to. Hopefully she bought my excuse. The last thing I want is for her to know the truth of what could happen tonight..."_

"Hey Crimson," I began, resting the sheathed blade over my right shoulder, "I get the feeling that today's going to be our last day together."

I could hear Crimson scoffing and if she had a face she'd probably be smirking. "_What makes you say that? Do you believe we'll find your mother today?_"

Nodding I reached into the pocket of my black skinny jeans. "Yeah, I do," I answered verbally, retrieving the time travel pen Pluto gave me about two years ago. It's a thin golden rod with an aquamarine crystal orb that matches my eyes, surrounded by thin gold rings.

"_What will you do when we do find her?" _Crimson questioned. "_You aren't just going to blurt out that she dies trying to give birth to you, right?"_

Well, actually, that about sums up the plan I had before this moment. Of course, now I realize that finding mom was one thing and convincing her not to have me is another. Rei's always saying how stubborn my mom was back in the early days of her reign, how she did what she felt was right even if everyone else thought it was a bad idea. I'm a living reminder of that stubbornness, but somehow...someway I must convince her that nothing good can come from my existence.

My life means nothing to me. My life only holds meaning for the few who respected my mother's wishes to the bitter end.

Many times I've considered suicide, but that would do no good either. Suicide won't erase the past nor will it create a better future. After all...

My gaze darts into the towering structures of Crystal Tokyo: the capital of the entire planet. This kingdom flourished when my mother ruled it. Her pure-hearted nature and selflessness kept it afloat, kept it from turning into monarch-dictatorship in the eyes of the people. She didn't rule with an iron fist, instead choosing to rule with love and compassion.

Rini rules in a similar way, but she doesn't have the support of the people. In a one-world government, the support of the people means everything. Without it, that government begins to crumble in on itself, all the territories turn on each other, bringing about a war that consumes the entire planet.

Crystal Tokyo, Japan is the center of the world, but it is also the center of bloodshed and despair.

This all started because my mother refused to destroy me before I could destroy her. I've lived well, and I have some good memories along with some terrible ones. Being able to live at all has been a blessing but it's been a curse as well, in more ways than one.

That's why...that's why I have to go back to the past, to stop my birth from happening. If I can prevent that single event, I would have saved my future from an endless war, and all the lives I took, whether they deserved their fate or not, will be restored.

"_I can atone for those sins..._" the thought trails off, a familiar presence distracting me as a glow of purple light brightens up the forest a few feet behind me. Well, Pluto has arrived to crash the party.

I twist my body to face her as she emerges from the shadows. Her wise, magenta eyes gaze warily at me. The pace of her walk is slow, agonizingly so, but I don't make a move or utter a word. By now I'm used to her routine speech about altering with the space-time continuum and how everything done in the past alters the state of the future and what not. The first time she spouted the nonsense I argued my case with every ounce of passion I could muster. The second time I argued once more, but with less fervor than before, anticipating that she'd let me go. Since then, there's been no argument. She makes her case, then allows me to go about my business without trouble.

"Greetings, Sailor Pluto," I began, latching my sword behind my back before reaching down for my duffel bag. "You're early. Normally you wait until I've started traveling through time before giving the speech on the dangers of altering time and space." Once my bag was secure over my left shoulder I folded both of my arms over my chest. "I guess the sooner the better, since I don't plan on..."

"Kousagi, I've come to give you a warning," Pluto interrupted, her dark green locks flowing in the sudden gust of wind. "It's important that you listen."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes as I moved to place my hands on my hips. "Come on Pluto, you spit this same line every time..."

"Postpone your trip to the past until tomorrow night."

Okay, that's a new one. "Why? What's the matter?"

Pluto sighed, her magenta eyes falling toward the grass beneath our feet. "Someone else intends to cross through the gates of time tonight. This traveler comes from a dimension completely separate from ours, causing for a truly dangerous situation if not handled with care. Under such circumstances, I absolutely forbid you to travel tonight."

"Forbid me?" I questioned, narrowing my gaze. "Last time I checked, danger is no issue for me. Three weeks ago I took down an army singlehandedly." I raised the time travel pen over my head. "_Besides, to complete my single mission in life, I'll face any danger. No cost is too great._"

"It's not that type of danger Kousagi," Pluto answered, taking a few steps closer, while lifting her Garnet rod. The red orb inside it glowed. "Please, you must trust me. You can't travel through the gates of time tonight. You can wait until tomorrow, can't you?"

"_In hindsight I could_," I thought, lowering my arm. I'm not impatient. Waiting until tomorrow wouldn't normally be something I'd take issue with. After all, I know that Sailor Pluto is trying to protect me for Rini's sake. She doesn't want me to get hurt. Whether she actually cares about me or not is debatable, but if anything were to happen to me...it'd kill Rini.

That is, unless I succeed in my mission once and for all. Then she won't remember me and she'll have her mother back. Of course, waiting one more day won't hurt, right?

Wrong.

Unfortunately, waiting until tomorrow is out of the question. I don't know if Sailor Pluto knows this or not, but I learned pretty quickly that I can only travel through time during the New Moon, thus adding another reason for limiting these trips to once a month. My powers are directly affected by the moon and are at their strongest during the Full and New Moon phases, but again, I can only travel through time using the pen Pluto gave me during the New Moon. Why? Quite frankly I don't know and neither does Crimson for that matter. I only know this much through trail and error, but if I have to guess, it's probably due to the seal I placed on my powers to keep them from lashing out of control.

Even with the seal they're a hindrance to me in some way.

"_You know what we have to do, right?_" Crimson questioned from inside my mind.

I nodded, lifting my arm again as the sword charm on my bracelet began to glow.

Pluto's eyes widened, but she moved her body into a fighting stance. "Kousagi..."

"I'm sorry," I cut in, feeling the familiar magic surround me. "I can't let you stand in my way tonight. With any luck, I can erase all the pain I've caused to my family and the few friends I have. For once, I can do some good for them." A sad smile lifts the corners of my mouth. "If reaching that goal means fighting you I'll do it because in the end I know that leaving now instead of tomorrow is for the best. I can't explain how, it's just a feeling, but too strong of a feeling for me to ignore."

Of all the lies I've had to come up with over the years, that one is definitely the absolute worst. Everyone knows not to mix the truth with lies that aren't believable. Seriously, a feeling too strong to ignore? Anyone who interacts with me on any level knows I don't base my actions solely on my feelings.

A sigh fell from her lips. Clearly she didn't buy it-only an idiot would-but she wasn't about to question me on it because no matter the excuse, once my mind is made up, there's no way to stop me. Sailor Pluto understands this about my personality, if nothing else.

"Very well." There were no more words exchanged as she swung her rod over her head, preparing for her Dead Scream attack.

That was the last thing I saw before my energy consumed me.

"EARTH CRYSTAL POWER!"

* * *

A/N: And that ends this chapter. So these first three chapters have been all about Kousagi. Since parts of her personality, appearance, and back-story are basically AU, it may be difficult to relate to her at first. That's why, next chapter, I plan on switching it up! Don't know what I mean, well, there'll be more DBZ in it, that's for sure! Maybe some humor too if I can find a way to fit it in, all this angst is totally crazy. Anyway, thanks for reading. Please review.

Also, on a final note. From these first three chapters, told in a backward order, you know that Kousagi's feelings do change over time, but have no idea of the circumstances that brought about those changes. In the next chapter and the chapters to come, you'll find out. Plus, there's more to Kousagi's back-story that I conveniently threw in but didn't delve into much...yet. Mainly, the abuse Kousagi received from her father. (In the canon he would never do this, but I'm pretending that after Serena died, the man loses his mind to some degree.)


	4. A Wrinkle in Time Part 1

A/N: For this chapter, we'll be centering more on the DBZ characters and plotline. That's all I'll say for now. This chapter is set in a dimension that's seperate from the world of Sailor Moon, a.k.a. the world of DBZ.

Special thanks to my reviewers: Light-Sakura, Princesa De La Luna, Bunny Heart Medicine, Puffgirl 1952, Rinny Wolf, Princess Seraphina88, and Sailor Dragon 1 for all of your reviews. The support is greatly appreciated! I hope you all enjoy this chapter too!

Warnings: The dates may confuse you. In the DBZ world, there's a completely different timeline system called the Age system. (At least that's what it said on Wikia.) For example Age 780 is the year Gohan dies in Future Trunks' timeline. Three years later, Age 783, he fights the Androids (in the manga anyway. In the anime it's like the next day or so, but I'm using the manga adaptation for this little tidbit). In 784, he goes back to the past nearly twenty years, the year being Age 765 in the DBZ world when he arrives. We're switching between these two time frames in this chapter. Also, normally in stories I directly tell my readers who's point of view the segments of the chapters are going to be in. Since I'm trying out a new writing style, in this story I will not do so. It's all a big guessing game, but if I manage to get the characterizations right, you'll know who's who. Anyway, on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Sailor Moon or Dragonball Z

Chapter 4

A Wrinkle In Time Part 1

March 5th, Age 784

For three years, I've gone through the continuous cycle of mentally beating myself to a bloody pulp because I'm unable to do so with my hands. I want to claw out my hair, dig my nails into my skin, anything to punish myself more than I already have for allowing my mentor and best friend to die at the hands of the androids, for being too weak to take them down after finally becoming a Super Saiyan. I remember training endlessly, overconfident in my newfound abilities and at the first chance, I rushed into a losing battle. It was a close call but I was lucky. Somehow I always managed to luck out of trouble, out of the clutches of death.

The moment I found Gohan's body plays in my mind over and over on repeat, almost as if someone found humor in watching me torture myself with grief. I suppose if anyone were to find humor in this pain, it'd be 17 and 18. Yeah, those two thrive on causing misery to others. They're drawn to the scent of blood like a vampire would be if they actually existed. Still, no monster in folklore is nearly as terrifying as the horror that's been my reality.

Struggling to survive against these machines has been my life story. Even so, I still found moments of happiness within it. Though nearly all Earth's heroes were gone, there were still a few left. I still had a few people in my life to keep me strong like my mother and Gohan before he...

I wish I could hate him for the stunt he pulled that day. Knowing he knocked me out cold to stop me from running into my death doesn't make the anger I feel any less consuming. On the contrary it just makes me angrier because his concern for me ended up costing him his life.

Rationalizing the reasoning behind his actions serves no purpose but to frustrate me, yet I keep trying to figure out why he knocked me unconscious, why he wouldn't allow me to fight alongside him. I already know the answer, but I keep asking myself those questions anyway, trying to make sense of why he had to die at all.

My father fell to the Androids long ago, so Gohan had become like a father to me. He protected and encouraged me, helped me become the person I am today, but then in a flash he's just...gone.

I can't stand the rain now. I used to find it refreshing on a hot summer day. Rain was a sign that something good would grow from the darkness. Up until that horrible day, the rain was a beacon of perpetual hope. Sometimes I'd spend hours standing in it, soaking up the droplets that continued to give life despite the surrounding death.

But now when I think of rain, when I see it, all I can envision is Gohan's body lying in a puddle of rainwater, his eyes wide open, lifeless.

The rain soaked through my clothes as my feet brought me to his corpse. I couldn't understand, couldn't fathom the idea of Gohan being dead. The reality was staring straight into my waterlogged eyes and I couldn't accept it. I still haven't accepted it yet, even after three, nearly four, years. At this point, I don't think I ever will.

The memory of kneeling by his side enters my mind, it's like my body was trying to force me to make sense of it, but there was no sense in his death. There was absolutely no logic or sense of fairness as to why he had to die, why anyone had to die at the hands of such monsters.

Screams echoed along with the sound of the rain. At first I was certain that the androids had struck somewhere else, that someone was in danger, that I alone would have to perpetuate justice for their despicable crimes.

But as the screams continued, the truth finally registered in my mind. I was the one making the sound and Gohan was irrevocably dead before me. Upon that realization I screamed louder, cried harder, clenched my fists so tightly that I drew blood with my nails, but the physical ache of the wounds were lost on me. There was only one emotion I could feel as the sound of my screams resounded over and over in my ears.

Rage.

And then there was a spark, something deeper than any hatred I've ever known, broke through my subconscious. I lost all control of my senses as a golden glow surrounded my body, making my hair stand up on end. My hatred and lust for vengeance blinded me in those moments, but then I awoke and saw the world again through new eyes, eyes that would strike fear into the hearts of those androids...or they would have if those things had hearts at all.

"Trunks! Are you ready yet!"

Blinking away the images I turn my gaze away from the mirror in front of me. "Yeah, mom! I just have to finish brushing my teeth. Okay?"

"Fine, but you better hurry," my mom called. "We don't exactly have all the time in the world. Get your butt in gear."

"_Right, today's the day_." A smile tugs at the corners of my lips as I grab the tube of toothpaste and my toothbrush from the cabinet behind the mirror. "_For now I can put those memories behind me. I'll be able to see Gohan again, and I'll meet my father and Goku too. If all goes well, I'll be able to reverse the damage that's been done to this timeline with the help of Mom's time machine._"

One way or another, even it costs me my life, I'll put a stop to the murderous rampage of the androids.

* * *

Twenty years earlier

February 14th, Age 765

7:05 a.m.

"GOHAN! GOHAN!"

"_Oh, no, please not now mom_," I thought, turning over in my bed while squeezing my closed eyes a bit more tightly in response the to shrill sound of her voice. She wasn't yelling at me to study or anything like that. On the contrary this was just the routine breakfast call. I know this because my stomach usually reacts to the yummy smells wafting up the stairs long before her voice ever reaches me.

My stomach churns with hunger, but I'm in absolutely no shape to get up yet. For one reason or another I just couldn't sleep last night. My continuous tossing and turning became a redundant cycle as needless anxieties crept up in my mind. After three hours of achieving nothing but tangling the freshly washed sheets, I gave up on sleep and decided that studying would be the best way to distract my restlessness. This worked for an hour or so, but then my thoughts drifted to the past as one reoccurring question continued to eat away at me, feeding into the already shaky state of my mental clarity.

When will dad finally come back home?

It's nearly been a year since Frieza's defeat on Namek. Initially I, along with all of my friends, thought he had blown up along with the planet. We were so certain of it that we hunted madly for the restored Dragonballs on Earth to wish him back to life as well as Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu who died during Vegeta's attack on Earth. Oddly enough, while on Namek, he became an ally and even saved my life from one of Frieza's deadly attacks.

In any case, we were surprised and relieved to find out that my dad didn't actually die. He was alive, well and on some other planet in some distant galaxy. We tried wishing him back to Earth, but Shenron told us expressly that dad wasn't ready to come back yet. None of us could begin to understand why he wouldn't want to come home, but knowing him it's probably to make himself stronger so that he'll be ready for any new perils that might befall the Earth.

Hopefully that won't happen for a while, but even knowing Dad has a good reason to stay away doesn't make his extended absence in our lives any easier to deal with. I know he'll come back, but it's difficult for me to be patient as more time passes. I really miss him and wish he were around...

Especially in moments like this because after studying my brain into a stupor, the last thing I want to do is go downstairs and listen to mom's rants about me being a famous and successful scholar. Don't get me wrong, it's not just her dream for me. I actually do want to be a scholar someday, but I also want to have a normal childhood and have days where I just run around and goof off all day. I'm not saying that I don't get to do that sometimes. Mom is strict but not so much so that she won't let me be a kid. Still, she grills the studying thing religiously and will sometimes quiz me randomly first thing in the morning. Today, there's no way I can stomach it. All I really want to do is sleep now that my brain has finally settled down.

"Gohan! Breakfast is ready!"

Unfortunately, I've inherited my father's wild appetite as of late. Ignoring my stomach is impossible. Ugh, talk about really bad timing for that to happen.

With a groan I blinked my eyes open, wincing at the sunlight filtering in through the window. "I'll be right down mom." Blinking and moaning I attempted to plant my feet on the floor.

"Alright son!" she called, just as I clumsily plummeted to the wood floor beneath me with a small yelp. "Be sure to wash up before you come down."

Stifling another fatigued groan I lifted myself up. "Yes ma'am!"

* * *

Fifteen minutes later

My mother stared at me with wide onyx eyes as I unconsciously tore through the breakfast she prepared. As always, the food was delicious, the usual assortment of bacon, pickled omelets, french toast, fried rice, a hash-brown casserole, ramen noodles,chicken stuffed dumplings, cinnamon roles, and blueberry pancakes spread out across the tabletop. Even though I tried to eat with my manners in tact, my stomach screamed angrily at me to fill it up and not waste time worrying about what mom may do in response. On most days I was able to win against my Saiyan instincts, but exhaustion prevented me from fighting them today.

Mom was clearly flabbergasted at the display, but instead of saying anything like she normally would in this situation, she simply sat down, watching me eat. I complimented her cooking over and over because today, it was especially good. A faraway look gleamed over her eyes as she continued to watch me, never replying to the compliments I gave her. It actually started to worry me a little.

"Are you okay mom?" I asked, swallowing the mouthful of the casserole she'd made.

She nodded, that faraway look still in her eyes. "Yes, I'm fine Gohan." A bright smile lit up her face. Pressing the palm of her hand to her cheek she said, "You just remind me so much of your father."

Grinning, I set down the bowl of ramen, my hunger subsiding for a moment. "Do I really, Mom?"

Her smile slipped into a snide looking smirk. "That's not necessarily a good thing Gohan. Your father never did have any manners. Whenever food comes into play he completely ignores his impact on people around him. He'll talk with his mouth full, at restaurants he'll ask for more food long before he finishes his first plate..." she trailed off, a slight giggle slipping from her mouth. "If he hadn't spent all his time training I'm certain he'd be obese."

"Obese?" I questioned, blinking in confusion. "What does that mean?"

My mom's eyes narrowed, the usual fire in them returning ten-fold. "Now, now Gohan you know the rules. If you want to know what a word means, you have to look it up in the dictionary." She pointed toward the bookshelf in living room for emphasis.

Sighing I stick my fork into a piece of an omelet. "Can't you tell me what it means? Just this once?"

Mom laughed again, rising from the chair to remove the apron around her waist. "Well, I suppose I can tell you this one time since today is a special day."

"Special day?"

"Yes," mom answered while hanging up her apron. Turning around she gave me an odd look that I remember her distinctly giving Dad once, the look that says, "Don't play dumb you know what I'm talking about mister."

Of course Dad didn't know what she was talking about and neither do I.

With a groan she muttered, "Today is Valentines Day, Gohan. You don't remember me telling you about it?"

No, I remembered. She told me about the holiday revolving around couples in love last month. It's not a holiday like Thanksgiving where you get to eat a really special meal or Christmas where you get lots of presents, so I put the whole thing out of my head. From my standpoint, it sounded like a holiday meant solely for girls.

"That's today..."

"Yep, today," Mom replied, smiling as she sat back down at the table again, a glass of water in her hand. "Your father used to always forget too..." she trailed off once more, that faraway look in her eyes coming back, probably to stay. "Oh, Goku...I wish you'd come back."

Setting my fork down I turned my gaze toward the living room. There's an armchair near the television set where Dad used to sit after training. I was really young then, but I remember all the times we played together near that chair and the times when I'd just sit on his lap and watch T.V. with him. Peaceful days like that, with Dad being in the forefront of my life, I can barely remember it.

But he's still a great man and an even greater warrior. The way he came strolling in when Krillin, Piccolo, Vegeta and I were in a losing battle against Frieza was amazing. He was so confident and calm. The fight could have been his last, but I doubt the thought even buzzed through his mind. I don't think Dad has ever been inclined to think that way about any situation. He's always up for new challenges and ready to beat impossible odds. Dad became a Super Saiyan and took Frieza down, saving me and everyone else in the process.

I know he'll come back someday, even if it takes a little while longer.

With that settled in my mind I slowly rose up from my chair. "Hey mom?"

She blinked, having obviously been lost in thought. "Yes, what is it Gohan?"

"I was wondering," I began, walking slowly around the table so I stood by her side, "do you think you and I could take a walk through the woods today? I remember you telling me that you used to do that with Dad all the time, right?"

Mom nodded, a look of slight surprise on her face. "What brought this about Gohan?"

"Dad wouldn't want us to worry about him," I told her, determined to make her smile. "He knows Valentine's day is special to you and is probably thinking about both of us right now, hoping that we make the most of the day and spend as much time together as we can so we can tell him all that we did when he finally comes home." Pressing my hands together I pouted a little. "So, can we go please?"

I don't think I've ever seen my mom smile so brightly. "Of course Gohan..." she trailed off, that smile turning into a devious smirk. "After you've finished..."

"Actually mom, last night I couldn't sleep so I did my homework early," I cut in, giving her a smirk of my own. This was bound to make her happy, so much so she'd give me the day off from my studies tomorrow too..."

"YOU STAYED UP ALL NIGHT! THAT'S NOT HEALTHY!"

Before I could blink Mom had raced to one of the kitchen cabinets. Seconds later she stuck a thermometer in my mouth and placed her hand over my forehead while muttering inaudibly to herself. Once the little thing beeped she yanked it out, staring at the numbers.

"Ninety-eight point eight," she stated, glaring at me now. "Gohan, I think you should take a quick nap first. That should cure the fever."

I felt like slapping myself for walking into this one. Still, I am really tired and with Mom's moods swinging like this, it's probably safer to just go along with the overreaction. After all, she just wants what's best for me and staying up all hours of the night definitely isn't a good thing.

"We'll go on our walk in a few hours." She smiled again, moving toward the closet where she'd hung her apron. "That'll give me time to prepare a picnic lunch. Does that sound good?"

"Yes ma'am that sounds perfect," I answered, my eyes locking on the messy table. "Do you want me to help you clean this up?"

She shook her head as she passed by me, already moving to pick up the pile of empty plates. "No, no Gohan. You go upstairs and sleep for a while. Like I said before, today's a special day. Now go get some shut-eye."

"Okay..." I started for the stairs.

"And Gohan."

"Yes Mom?" I asked, halting in my tracks.

"When I say obese in reference to your father, I mean that with all the food he eats he should be severely overweight."

Her back was to me, so I couldn't see her expression, but the warm tone in her voice assured me that she was feeling better about Dad. Knowing that I helped made me smile.

"Thanks mom. I'll see you later."

* * *

Back in the outskirts of Crystal Tokyo

1:23 a.m.

"Keeyah!"

After dodging Pluto's Dead Scream blast for the umpteenth time, Kousagi spun on her heel, raising up her right foot as she did to slam an unrelenting roundhouse kick to the side of the older woman's head. Pluto yelped out in pain, slamming into the ground and hitting her head against a tree in the process, effectively knocking her out for the count.

With a breath of exasperation, Kousagi transformed back to her base state, grateful to the tree for helping in her efforts. That kick definitely wouldn't have been enough to stop Pluto from attacking again. She'd been tougher than the thirteen-year-old first anticipated.

Kneeling down she breathed in and out while reaching down into her pocket for her cell phone. Tapping a button, blue light lit up her face as her eyes looked at the time.

"I wasted a whole hour," she muttered, rising to her feet once again while stuffing her phone back into its place. Huffing she stalked toward her duffel bag a few steps away, Crimson Shakugan and her time travel pen lying right beside it.

"_I told you to just use me to blast her with a fire attack, but nooooooo_," Crimson stated after Kousagi slung the sheathed blade behind her right shoulder again, making sure to secure the sash attached across her torso. "_Apparently you don't ever want to listen to what I say even though we're practically the same person. Dummy!"_

"Well, if that's the case you're just as dumb as I am," Kousagi fired back, tucking a loose strand of raven hair behind her ear before slinging her duffel bag over her left shoulder. "Besides, a fire attack could have killed her. We don't want to do that, especially when we can make up for lost time without much effort."

Crimson grumbled from within the dull stone corridors of Kousagi's mind, her scarlet eyes shifting to one of the crumbling beige columns. "_Whatever. You're still a dummy._"

Kousagi didn't even attempt a comeback. After all, it was the same line she always used to shut Crimson up. They're two sides to the same person, if one calls the other stupid, they're both stupid. Of course, that seemingly ingenious logic never seemed to faze Crimson anyway. She said what she wanted without hesitation. No amount of pestering on Kousagi's part ever made a difference.

"_By the way, you really need to add some color to your mind,_" Crimson added, drawing out the words to add emphasis on how miserable she was hanging out inside Kousagi's inner world. "_It's about as boring as that Wolf's Rain cartoon..._"

Kousagi stopped dead in her tracks, clutching the sheath a bit more tightly in her hand while gritting her teeth. "First off, it's called anime! Secondly, Wolf's Rain is a beautiful, heartfelt story about a wolf finding his paradise..."

"_Oh please, you only watch it because you love listening to Johnny Yong Bosch talk_," Crimson interrupted. "_Seriously, who has a crush on just a voice?_"

"Just another side to my soul," Kousagi muttered, not even bothering to fight the inevitable rolling of her aquamarine eyes. "Yeah, that's classic. We may as well be two different people." Rolling her eyes again she addressed the spirit. "I love Wolf's Rain for the content, not the stupid voice actor." With another exasperated sigh she lifted her arm up toward the dark sky above her.

"_Tell yourself that all you want to little girl but I..."_

Cutting Crimson off mid-rant, Kousagi began to chant words up toward the clouds. The words were reminiscent to the words Rini used to speak when she would travel through time and space to spend with her meatball headed mother while she was still a teenager.

"Magic prism of light, I ask for you to guide me on this night..."

"_Hey! How dare you start chanting while I'm talking to you!"_

Kousagi's eyebrow twitched, but she ignored Crimson's voice. "Through time and space, keep me at a steady pace until at last I find..."

A swirl of teal energy began to circle around the teen, rising higher as a gust of cool wind whirled around her.

"Hope to fill their days and goals to fill thy mind," Kousagi continued, abruptly opening her eyes to lock on the portal opening inside of the New Moon. "Forces of all that is good, take me through the portal. Rewrite the past and make happiness immortal!"

The light of the magic intensified as gravity became nonexistent within. Seconds later, Kousagi found herself moving inhumanly fast through the sky, through the portal, and into the swirling black and blue void that was the space-time continuum. The push and pull of energy forced her forward, but Kousagi felt no fear. The first time she traveled through the void she was thoroughly and understandably freaked out by the seizure inducing flashes of light directly in front of her as well as the odd sounds of howling, voices, and she distinctly remembered hearing a cow moo loudly, adding a whole new meaning to the nursery rhyme about the cat and his fiddle.

You know, cause the cow jumped over the moon...

All attempts at joking aside, Kousagi heard it and nearly had a panic attack, especially when she literally saw a cow floating though the space-time continuum about a minute or so later.

Luckily, it didn't take long for Kousagi to become accustomed to the strange sounds and visions of the strange void of space. Now she enjoyed pinpointing the different sounds that filtered in and the different sights she saw, though a cow jumping over the moon never came up again. Even now, that part would still freak her out a little.

"_Kousagi...Kousagi..._"

The young woman in question mentally sighed. "_Why does the spirit in my sword have to be so immature._"

"_Ugh, wrong spirit dummy_," Crimson stated, rolling her eyes from within Kousagi's inner world. "_Honestly, just because I pranked you in here that one time!_"

Kousagi kept her gaze straight ahead, opting to keep quiet and focused on the task at hand instead of engaging in another pointless argument with the spirit of her sword. She'd wasted enough energy already.

"_It was Halloween for crying out loud! Don't you have a sense of humor? It was funny!_"

It certainly had not been funny. For the next month the poor girl's dreams were plagued with nightmares because of Crimson's little stunt. In fact, she nearly didn't come back to Crystal Tokyo because she'd been terrified to go through the portals of the weird realm again.

"_So I called your name out over and over and pretended that I was the souls of those soldiers you killed the week before,_" Crimson stated, trying in vain to defend her actions. "_The timing may not have been great but the look on your face had been priceless._"

Kousagi groaned audibly, an involuntary shudder shaking through her as she remembered how the spirit had perfectly mimicked their voices. "Crimson..."

"_Well, it wasn't me this time!_"

Suddenly the swirling light in front of her intensified, changing shapes and colors as Kousagi's airborne body regained its weight, dropping toward nothingness in the span of two seconds.

"Crimson if this is a joke!"

"_I already told you that it wasn't me!_"

Kousagi gazed frantically around her, watching as the blue and black swirls slowly slipped into hues of grey and green, then white and yellow, and lastly red and orange. Gravity continued pulling her down until a gust of invisible energy slammed into her chest, knocking the air out of her and sending her hurdling backwards.

Biting back screams Kousagi tried to stop herself from somersaulting through the shifting space, but she had no control over her body anymore. Just when she thought she was about to hit the some form of ground another portal would suck her up, causing her to spin in circles and flip around the twisting space. Kousagi couldn't begin to guess how long this continued or how she managed to hang on to her sword, bag, and the time travel pin, but she managed it, spinning uncontrollably all the while.

"Definitely...getting...nauseous," she screamed out, another yelp escaping her as she hurdled down again. She couldn't discern her environment anymore or make sense of the disjointed echoes of chiming bells. It was far too much to take in.

But before losing consciousness, she briefly saw the silhouette a strange machine mixing along with the void she found herself lost in. Within the bulky, yellow thing sat a young man. She noted frustration in his sky-blue eyes as he fiddled with the controls of whatever that thing was, but after he and the machine disappeared into the void, swirling endlessly with the colors of the cosmos.

* * *

A/N: And that ends this chapter. As for what happens next, you'll have to wait and see. The only thing I can say at this point is that Kousagi's adventures have begun. Also, when it comes to where Kousagi ends up, it won't be where you expect. Don't know what I'm talking about? Stay tuned. The only way to find out is to read the next chapter.

Also, when it comes to Gohan in this chapter, I'm not entirely sure how well I did with his characterization and his interaction with Chi-Chi. I'm hoping I didn't make Chi-Chi too over the top because she's more than just a person who yells about studying all the time, but the yelling is hilarious. Plus, with Gohan, at this point in the story he's only five nearly six years old so I may have made him a bit...too smart. With how often he studies he should be smarter than the average kid his age and he's more mature because of what he's dealt with to this point, but I don't know. What do you guys think? It's my first shot at writing for his character and with Trunk's too, so I'd like to know if I did okay or not. Constructive criticism is welcome. As the old saying goes, there's always room to improve. Thanks for reading everyone! Please review.


	5. A Wrinkle in Time Part 2

A/N: And here is the next installment of this story. My thanks are extended to everyone who has read, reviewed, and has added this story to their favorites so far.

Warnings: In DBZ world, there's a completely different timeline system called the Age system, but it won't be incorporated much in this chapter. However, in the coming chapters it will play a big role. One other thing, this chapter is SHORT in comparison to the last two chapters. Why? Well, basically it's filler, but an important filler, so pay close attention.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z or Sailor Moon. This story has been written for entertainment purposes only.

Chapter 5

A Wrinkle in Time Part 2

March 5th, Age 784

11:45 a.m.

Bulma Brief, the heiress of the famous Capsule Corporation, sighed heavily as she sipped at her hazelnut flavored coffee, her mind taking her back to blissful days before the world fell to the murderous grip of the androids created by Dr. Gero, founder of the Red Ribbon Army.

"Such a madman," she whispered, setting the cup down on the coaster before picking up the pencil next to it. Narrowing her eyes, she began working again, checking off things from a list of precautions she'd made for the world's first time machine and its passenger. Trunks, her beloved son, had already departed inside said machine, but Bulma worried anyhow, even after checking and re-checking everything that could be checked, from whether the seatbelt worked to Trunk's ability to actually pilot the thing.

For so long she'd been developing the machine, putting every ounce of brainpower into bringing a device that existed only in science fiction to the real world. Endless hours of studying through mile-high stacks of paperwork and notes, trials, and many errors in construction, took up three years of her life. Pressing past failures and blunders, she finished building the machine. She took pride in knowing she had succeeded, but the battle wasn't over yet. Long days and even longer nights were spent running test after test while Trunks trained for hours on end, barely taking time to eat and sleep, though he usually only slept for an hour or two before pouring all his energy into training again. It was no wonder that when Androids 17 and 18 attacked Bridgetown, Trunks ran out of steam and came back with cuts, bruises, and many broken bones.

She had made sure to grill him on how stupid he was for allowing his newfound ability to turn Super Saiyan go to his head. Being able to transform hadn't made things any easier for Gohan after all. In the end, the androids killed him too.

After she told Trunks about her plan to warn Goku in the past, stating the perfect time would be just after he returns to Earth from outer space to defeat a robotic version of Frieza, who came to the planet for revenge. It took some convincing on her part, she had to show Trunks the nearly completed prototype of her time-machine as well as explain over and over that there was simply nothing else they could do for their timeline and that their energy would be better spent preventing the events in another timeline. Eventually he agreed to the mission, for his own reasons, but Bulma didn't question him about it. She didn't need to.

Unfortunately it took another year to make the finished product. The prototype ended up having a big chunk of bugs in it. To a certain extent, Bulma had to start over again from scratch.

Luckily, having poured so much time into the first prototype, it took a third of the time to complete the new machine, bug free.

For the last two weeks she had taught Trunks the basics of how to work the machine and set the controls to the proper timeline. She ran some final tests and then ordered Trunks to stop with the incessant training and get some proper rest for the trip ahead of him.

And then, before she knew it, the day had come.

Trunks had rushed down the stairs, his short lavender colored hair flopping as he jumped from the last two steps. He wore an indigo Capsule Corporation jacket, a black tank-top, grey pants, and gold boots. His sword was already strapped to him and it was clear to Bulma that he was ready to get going despite his usual pleasant "good morning" extended toward her. On the kitchen table rested a plate of food, the generic breakfast stuff: eggs, bacon, and a slice of toast. Normally for a Saiyan, that wouldn't be nearly enough, but in the apocalyptic world they lived in, food was hard to come by sometimes. The Saiyan appetite had to be adjusted a little to compensate.

In any case, Trunks wasted no time after thanking her for the food. He ate quietly and quickly while Bulma went into the basement lab. She had smiled a little, thinking, "_He's so determined to beat the androids, to learn some sort of weakness in their make-up while he's in the past. Well, with Goku there to help, I'm certain he'll find a way._" At the bottom of the stairs she stopped for a moment, her smile faltering as she stared at the machine before her. "_I just hope nothing happens to him while he's there. He's all I have left."_

Ten minutes later, after Bulma had moved the machine outside, Trunks came out, a small smile on his face.

"So, is it ready mom?" he asked once he was within earshot

Bulma took a step away from the machine, having just finished the last check-up. "You bet it is." She turned toward Trunks, smiling broadly at him. "This machine is absolutely flawless." Shifting her gaze she looked at the yellow machine once more, her eyes locking on the word "Hope" written across the side of it in big black letters along with two exclamation points.

As she looked at her son again she felt tears welling up in her eyes. "_You're my hope Trunks, so please..._"

Trunks noticed the glassy state of his mother's eyes. "Mom, are you okay?"

"Of course, never better," she answered, switching her emotions off while blinking away the tears. "_I'm just worried about you..._" Reaching into her pocket to retrieve a small vial, she stared straight into her son's eyes. "Gosh, you don't know how proud I am of you for doing this." Her eyes were watering up again, but she didn't try to fight it this time. "You look so handsome, Trunks Brief."

He smiled, blushing a bit. "Thanks."

She nodded, holding her hand out toward him. "I am going to miss you son."

Trunks held out his hand as Bulma placed the small vial in his palm. "I guess this is the antidote for Goku?"

"Yeah, do me a favor. Don't drop it," she replied, her voice shaking slightly while retracting her hand from his. "_And please be careful._"

He gave her a swift nod, placing the vial into the inside pocket of his jacket. "Right, stay out of trouble while I'm gone okay."

"Sure." She held up her fist. "You know me."

"Yeah, that's why I'm worried."

Bulma placed her hands on her hips as he jumped into the open machine. "Trunks! I want you back..." she trailed off when he waved, smiling down at her, his eyes saying there was nothing to worry about, that he'd come back to her safe and sound.

"I love you!"

"I love you too Trunks," she told him, her vision blurring from the tears waiting to spill out, but she could clearly see the oval-shaped machine powering up and as it lifted into the air. A white glow began to surround it.

She spoke then, mostly to herself as it disappeared before her eyes. "If only you knew how much..."

The sound of something dripping on the papers on the table snapped her out of the memories of the morning. Glancing down she noted tear stains along the top page. Setting the pencil down she reached up toward her face with her right hand, her fingertips barely touching the droplets of water.

Trunks had only been gone for two hours and already the poor woman was worrying herself to tears. For a few seconds Bulma wondered if this idea was too ambitious, too risky for her son to handle.

"_No, I can't think like that_." Wiping away the tears she exhaled, fighting to regain her confidence. "_Trunks will be fine. He's strong...just like Vegeta was..._"

The thought trailed off when she heard a noise outside. At first she thought it was the wind or something else from outside because the window in front of her was slightly ajar. However, when the shrill sound of metal screeching reached her ears she jumped up from her chair.

"_What the heck is going on out there_?" she wondered, pressing her palm against the glass of the window, not caring if she left fingerprints as it opened all the way. Peeking out, her gaze darted in every direction, looking for the source of the sound.

And her eyes widened like saucers when the welcome and bizarre sight of Trunks jumping out of the time machine met eventually met her gaze. With a wide smile she decided she wouldn't waste time running for the front door and then circle around to the backyard. Instead she cleared away the top of the table, barely caring that her notes were flying and that she'd spilled her coffee on the floor, climbed up on it, and then jumped out of the window. The force of the jump caused the to fall backwards to the floor.

Inside, Bulma was slightly embarrassed with herself. She'd pulled off one of Chi-Chi's famous crazy mama maneuvers, but after a few seconds she put the thoughts out of her head. She was too ecstatic to care.

Unfortunately...

Trunks Brief was not in the best of moods. He had spent months preparing himself mentally to meet Goku, Gohan, and his father Vegeta. Despite some concerns, he'd pumped himself up to meet the people his mother praised day in and day out. Gohan had been a great guy, but he had no clue of what the others would be like. Of course, there wouldn't be much time to get to know them anyway. The sole purpose behind this first journey was to deliver the antidote to Goku so he wouldn't die from the heart virus. Nevertheless, Trunks couldn't stop himself from being a little excited.

That excitement was gone now.

Why? Trunks hit a giant snag while traveling through the space-time continuum.

"Trunks! Trunks!"

The boy in question turned his gaze toward his mother who was running like a cheetah toward him. Sighing he prepared himself for the long explanation he'd have to give.

As expected Bulma attacked her son with questions about Goku, if Trunks had given him the antidote, warned him about the androids, and how he'd managed to get back so quickly while circling around him, checking for injuries of any kind. While embarrassing, Trunks didn't move or answer any of his mother's questions until she stopped talking completely.

"Mom, I didn't make it to the past."

She blinked in confusion for a few seconds. "Wha...what do you mean you didn't make it?"

Trunks let out a long sigh. "On the way..." he trailed off, remembering the swirling black and blue void and how it randomly shifted, changing colors and making the machine go haywire. In a frenzy he'd reconfigured the settings to take him back to his own time.

However, before the machine zapped him back, he saw a girl falling through the void, heard her screaming...

"_That must have been my imagination_," he thought, narrowing his gaze on the ground beneath his feet. "_There's no way for anyone else to travel through time. My mom's machine is the only one of its kind in the world._"

"On the way what Trunks?" Bulma asked, raising her eyebrows. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure," Trunks answered, lifting his gaze to meet his mother's again. "One minute I'm traveling smoothly through the timeline and then in the next everything starts going crazy around me. The machine held up fine, but the timeline itself was a distorted mess. It forced me to come back." He locked his gaze on the machine. "It drained the time-machine of its power as a result."

Bulma's expression fell into a scowl. "It'll take at least a month to recharge it." Groaning she glanced at the machine. "Do you know what caused the distortion?"

Trunks shook his head. "No, not at all. The whole thing was just so strange."

"Well," Bulma sighed, placing her hand on Trunks' shoulder. "At least you made it back safely. In the end, that's all that matters to me."

"I know Mom, but so much time will be wasted because of this," he answered, clenching his fists by his sides. "More lives will be lost."

Dropping her hand, Bulma turned away from him. "I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about it now. I'll recharge the machine as quickly as I can and in the meantime you can train some more. Okay?" She attempted a smile, but it didn't quite reach her deep blue eyes.

Unbeknownst to them, Trunks' failed trip through the timeline had caused one MAJOR problem.

* * *

A/N: Initially I planned on making this chapter longer, but due to the filler nature of it, I decided against it. Plus, ending the chapter here means you guys will have to come back to find out what happens to Kousagi. First a cliffhanger and now this. Whether you love or hate me at this point for leaving you hanging twice doesn't matter, cause you'll be back for more...hopefully. Anyway, thanks for reading. Feel free to leave a review. If you see anything grammatically wrong or how with how the characters act, let me know. Constructive criticism is welcome. Have a great day!


	6. A Wrinkle in Time Part 3

A/N: And here's what you've all been waiting for! The twist that brings Kousagi's life back to the forefront and introduces the main conflict of her story. Since this story has been overly angst centric, I'm going to pour as much humor as I can into this chapter...scratch that. I attempted putting a lot of humor in this chapter and if this thing didn't turn into an angst fest again. Gah! I will work some humor into this story eventually, but be warned, these beginning chapters are meant to depress you. There's really nothing I can do about it. I tried.

Warnings: Though Kousagi puts up a tough front and acts rational and calm most of the time, she's actually really messed up in the head. You'll learn why as you continue reading. Also, with this chapter, because or what happens later, this chapter is rated **M**. You'll see why. Also, not really a warning, but I messed up with Gohan's age in the other chapter. Instead of being five about to be six, he's six about to be seven...if that makes sense. (In the DBZ timeline it's hard to figure out the accurate ages of these people. Plus, with it being my first time writing for this series...well I'm giving it my best shot.)

One last note: My updates are probably going to be a little slower from here on.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Dragoball Z or Sailor Moon. The changes to Kousagi's appearance and personality are a collaboration effort from me and my friend Princesa De La Luna. I only own Crimson Shakugan's character.

Chapter 6

A Wrinkle in Time Part 3

February 14th, Age 765

I've reached a pivotal epiphany, a realization so clear and obvious it's a wonder I didn't realize it sooner because let's face it, I really should have come to this conclusion a long, long, LONG time ago.

Traveling through time sucks.

"_Kousagi! Hey! Wake up already! We're in major trouble here! Colossally huge, terrible, unspeakable trouble!"_

Having barely regained any sort of conciousness, Crimson's screaming didn't help to lift my already deflated mood. Still, at least we ended up in the right place. The Earth beneath me feels like it usually does when we arrive. The familiar life signatures of the creatures below the surface gave me some comfort after an especially traumatic trip through the timeline. Still, at least Crimson wasn't responsible for it this time.

"_Hello! I said to wake up, not start with the inner monologue thing again. Good grief, for a girl who hardly talks to anybody you sure do know how to yak, yak, yak to yourself._"

Ignoring Crimson's jabs I slowly blinked my eyes open, cringing when the light of the sun hit my irises directly. After turning over in the grass I was laying on, I opened my eyes again, blinking to clear my slightly blurred vision. My duffel bag was lying about a foot away, tilted because of the hill sloping down around it. After lifting myself into a standing position and securing the strap holding Crimson to my body, I stared at the landscape around me. Rolling hills, a meadow littered with daffodils, a forest in the distance to my right, there was a river a couple of yards to my left leading up to a glorious sounding waterfall, and directly behind I could feel a large heat signature of some animal approaching. Hmm, that's a little odd. I can usually deduct what kind of animal it is, based on heat signature alone, but this type of heat signature is new. I've never felt it before.

Something seems a little off about this situation. While the feeling of the Earth is familiar, the surrounding area is definitely a new site for me. Normally I end up in the bustling streets of Tokyo, on a beach near the city of Venice, within the ancient palaces of China, or a few miles away from Niagara Falls in Buffalo, New York. From earlier trips, I've noticed that in the early days of mother's reign she traveled to these places the most. The only trouble is that I never seem to end up at the right place at the right time. For example, if she's in China, I'm in New York. If she's traveling through Venice, I'm in Tokyo. If she's in some other country, I end up in some random country a million miles away, but I digress. Perhaps I'm being paranoid, but this new and peaceful scenery feels misleading.

The abnormal heat signature of the creature approaching combined with the odd pulsations it creates in the ground is probably the cause of my sudden paranoia.

Pulling Crimson out from the sheath latched to my back, I inwardly questioned her. "_Do you see what it is?_"

"_Why wouldn't you just turn around?_" Crimson asked, panic and disbelief mixing together in her voice.

"_Can the melodrama and just tell me what you see_," I commanded, lowering the blade to my right side. "_If it's some kind of predator, I don't want it to know that I'm on to it._ _Doing so will give it the advantage..._"

"_Kousagi, that thing has the advantage whether it knows you're on to it or not._"

"What do you mean by that..."

The sudden screeching roar behind me, along with a gush of wind that smelled really rancid, answered my question.

"_Oh, so that's what you meant_," I thought, abruptly turning to find the horrible sight of a brown, scale-covered dinosaur staring straight into my eyes, its teeth bared, ready to eat me up. A lump formed in my throat which I involuntarily swallowed.

Okay, I've never had to deal with something like _this_ before. Armies I can handle. Fighting against the other Sailor Scouts is also not an issue for me. Facing a giant dinosaur in the middle of nowhere is a cause for concern, but I'm certain I can either kill it or manage to get away from it. The latter will probably be the best course of action because there's no way I'll be able to concentrate on my attacks.

The reason? What do you think the reason is? Go on, take a wild guess...

"_Kousagi! Who the heck are you talking to now? Do you have some imaginary friends I should know about?"_

Somehow, in a horrible twist, I've zapped myself back to the stone age and...oh no!

Suddenly I'm not concerned about the dinosaur, even though the thing is licking its teeth rather hungrily. Instead my eyes are darting around, searching the surrounding ground for the pen Pluto gave me.

"_Look out for those teeth!_"

Immediately I leapt away from the dinosaur lunging at me teeth first. He ends up eating dirt, but my eyes still searching for the pen. Landing next to my duffel bag I pick it up and throw the straps over my right shoulder, frantically glancing around it for the time travel pen in the empty space, but it's nowhere to be seen.

Hearing the dinosaur roar again, I keep my focus on its heat signature and jump away when he lunges for me once more. There's no way I can focus on searching for the pen when I have this thing chasing me. These sloping hills aren't suitable for fighting either. The best chance I have is to run, but this stupid reptile is blocking the only good escape route: the path toward the river. Going through the forest is a death trap, considering that this thing can probably topple each tree over without any trouble, and running through the massive flower littered meadows would just tire me out, leaving the dinosaur a clear opening to eat me alive.

"_There's no choice. I don't like it, but I have to transform..._"

The thought trailed off as the dinosaur lunged at me again, screeching angrily when I jumped away, executing a layout flip as I lifted my arm up in the air, preparing to scream out the words that would transform me into Sailor Earth. Unfortunately for me, the creature pulled a fast one and slammed his giant tail into me seconds after I landed, effectively knocking my bag sky-high and Crimson Shakugan out of my hands.

"_Definitely not good_." My vision was a swirl of the silver blade stabbing into the ground and my duffel bag flying in the opposite direction as my body rolled down slopping hill. Once my body stopped rolling down the hill, I shook away the dizziness, locking my gaze on Crimson Shakugan again. Even though we're two sides of the same soul, I can only hear Crimson when I'm either holding the sword in my hands or have it latched on my back. Without the physical contact, the mental connection between us is severed. I'm a pretty good fighter without the help of a weapon, even in my base state, but handling this giant, ravenous creature without the sword is going to be difficult...

"Graaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"_Especially when it won't give me time to transform_," I thought, blinking as I inclined my gaze behind my shoulder, glaring at the animal. Its wide-open mouth is moving toward me way too fast for comfort.

"_Crap, crap, crap_." I dove away from the dinosaur's mouth, rolling down another hill as a result. "_There's no time to transform and without Crimson I'm definitely in trouble._"

Skidding to a stop, I sucked in sharp breaths while snapping my gaze toward the scale-covered beast coming for me with teeth bared, closing in fast. Squeezing my eyes shut, I turned my back to the creature. "_I have to do something now! I can't let things end like this. I've got a mission to fulfill! Think Kousagi! Think!_"

The awful smell of the dinosaur's breath made all thinking useless, but deep inside me I felt a giant surge of power. As my fingers clawed into the ground, I felt something encircle me from behind. In response I bit down on my tongue, bracing myself for the sharp teeth about to stab into my flesh over and over, but nothing happened. After a few seconds I opened my eyes, but everything was still dark.

"What just happened?" I wondered aloud, shakily rising to my feet only to bump into a rough surface head first. With a mix of curiosity and bewilderment, I touched the surface with the palm of my hand.

"_It's just a clumping of rocks and dirt...but how could I.._" I gasped, quickly lowering myself back on the ground to take off my converse tennis shoes. "_Could it be that..._"

A roar from outside my prism of safety reached my ears as well as the sound of something ramming into the back of it, but I knew ahead of time that this barrier of Earth wasn't about to break. Still, though grateful that it appeared when it did, this barrier I've unintentionally created is not a good sign, not at all.

After taking off my socks and rolling up the legs of my jeans, I stared down at my bare ankles, looking for the black flame markings of the seal I placed on myself nearly a year ago. I can't see anything. My eyes still haven't adjusted to the lack of light.

Another roar echoed from outside as the dinosaur came ramming into the rocks encircling me again. This time a small piece of my barrier cracked, allowing a small ray of light to seep through. After positioning my feet toward the light, I stared at my ankles once more.

No markings.

The instant the realization hits me I rise to my feet and move on instinct, dropping the Earth barrier with the swift movement of my hands. The action immediately exposes me to the light of the hot sun and the beautiful but dangerous world surrounding me.

My eyes lock on the dinosaur. It had moved backwards in preparation for a charge, but upon seeing me it rushed toward me once more, sharp teeth bared for the thousandth time today.

This time I was ready for him.

Closing my eyes I focused on the pulsations in the ground, anticipating how the Earth would move once I manipulated those pulsations to my will. All I needed was for the dinosaur to come a few inches closer.

"Grrrrraaaaa!"

With a resounding cry of my own, I simply stomped my foot out in front of me, sending a violent storm of pulsations through the ground beneath us. When I opened my eyes, I watched a patch of ground jut outwards, acting as a giant kick to the dinosaurs stomach. The impact sent the poor thing flying toward space, securing my survival against it. My life may not mean anything to me, but the last thing I want is to become food for such an annoying beast. That'd be a really pathetic way for me to go.

I'm satisfied with the departure of the dinosaur, but how it happened is enough to bring me to my knees once it finally disappears from sight. In my Sailor forms, I can manipulate the Earth as well as water and air. I can even control fire as long as I'm holding Crimson Shakugan in my hands. Controlling the energy waves of the planet is not a new experience for me and isn't why I'm nearly shaking with terror.

Before I placed the seal on myself, I could do all of the above without having to transform, but the problem came from being able to control it. No matter how many hours I meditated or how hard I trained, there was simply no handling the sheer magnitude of my strength. Before sealing a good chunk of my powers, I accidentally caused earthquakes and tsunamis. The citizens of Crystal Tokyo, many of whom joined the resistance army as a means to bring my family out of power, rightfully blamed me for the destruction. Rini and the few Sailor Scouts that like me, tried to defend my honor, but they all knew that my powers were making a huge mess of things. Rini spent a great deal of time looking for ways to help me stay in control of them, but after two months of causing nothing but destruction to the kingdom at random spurts, I took matters into my own hands.

Along with the markings on my ankles, I had one other tattoo in the shape of a lotus on my lower back. It served as the main seal and kept my emotions from spinning out of control. In the past, my emotional state is what caused my powers to go haywire, so in a sense, I had to permanently sedate them. Even though I still have emotions, I feel them less intensely and most of the time feel nothing at all unless prompted by my own mental triggers or by Crimson who annoys me to no end. Of course, those little bursts of emotion didn't hold influence over my powers anymore, but now...

"_The seals are gone_," I thought, true panic rising up in me for the first time in over a year. "_All three seals are gone. How...how did this happen? When could it have possibly happened?_"

"_How the heck am I supposed to know?_"

I snapped my gaze toward the sword that was a good ten feet away, still protruding from the ground. "_Crimson? There's no way..._"

"_You act like we've never had a mental conversation before._" I heard her scoffing in my head even though there was no physical contact between us. The mental connection had returned without it.

"_By the way, that display was kind of pathetic Kousagi. You and I both know you can do WAY better. Sometimes I wonder if you could actually survive without me._"

"What happened?" I asked again, the question meant more for myself than Crimson. My mind simply couldn't process how the seals could've been broken. The trip through the timeline was sporadic, but something like that shouldn't have been able to break the seals. Nothing was supposed to break them. The book clearly stated that the three seals would be permanent, that my full powers would never be unleashed again...so how...how did this happen? There's no explanation for it! It's like all the work I put into mastering control over my powers has just been flushed down the toilet.

There's no way to make sense of how a routine trip through time turned out so wrong, but if I find the time travel pen I can go back to Crystal Tokyo, redo the seal, and then just try again in a months time.

"_It's the only thing I can do now_," I thought, the shaking in my body lessening when I sucked in a deep breath. The exhale came out a little staggered, but there's no time to worry about proper breathing techniques. Reaching behind me I grabbed my socks and shoes and shoved them on while mentally telling myself to keep calm. As I rise to my feet, I keep repeating the mantra of sucking in deep breaths and exhaling them slowly until I've walked across the sloping hill toward my sword, still waiting for the wave of serenity to wash over me.

Yeah, that's not happening.

After pulling Crimson out of the ground and placing her back in the sheath, we exchanged our thoughts about the situation and the possible places where the pen could be. We searched throughout the rolling hills, the meadows filled with flowers, and went so far as to look through each individual blade of grass in the spot where I'd woken up. The sun began to set an hour into our search.

"I should have listened to Pluto," I stated angrily, searching through my pockets for the blasted thing and only finding my cell phone which, no surprise, doesn't work anymore. The second I turned it on the thing froze completely and started making weird sounds. I can't even turn the stupid thing off.

Throwing it to the ground and making a show of mashing it to pieces with my feet, I shouted, "Lousy piece of junk, darn it!" With another loud yell I kicked it across the meadow.

"_Man, I haven't seen you this riled up since the ending to Evangelion..._"

"Don't mention that wretched word in my presence," I cut in, digging through my pockets again before kneeling down to search through the grass once more. "That's more than enough to set me off Crimson, you know that."

Crimson sighed as I rose to my feet to pace back and forth. "_And you call me melodramatic? Geez! Calm down woman! It's not that bad._"

Not that bad? Calm down? Ha! This situation calls for melodrama as far as I'm concerned. Without any explanation I've traveled thousands of years into the past where one sub-species of an entire extinct species is out to eat me, the seals to keep my powers from going nuts have disappeared for no reason, and I can't find...

Crimson winced and my inward rant trailed off as the distinct sound of something cracking underneath my newly tennis shoe clad foot reached our ears.

"_Ooooooh, that did not sound good at all._"

In my mind, that single cracking sound was the equivalent of a car abruptly slamming into a giant trunk head on and then spontaneously combusting on the side of the road.

"_Kousagi...breathe...just don't look at it..._"

But there was no way for me _not_ to look at it. Lifting my foot I allowed myself to see the mangled, golden metal and broken crystal orb that was once my time travel pen. For so long that pen has been the symbol of my hope, my dream of seeing my mother, of meeting her, and saving her from me. All my life I've trained and fought in battle after battle, staying alive only for this purpose. Years of bloodshed and suffering have propelled me forward, even when I wanted nothing more but to slit my wrist and let it bleed endlessly throughout the night. Despite my craving for death I lived because of the few people who love me. I lived because I dreamed of erasing their pain.

Then, in just one day, no, one hour, everything I've been through has been reduced to a small pile of broken metal and crystal. In one second all of my dreams shattered.

"_Maybe you can fix it?_"

Crimson meant well, but she knew as well as I did that neither of us held the ability to do that. Only Sailor Pluto would know how but she's thousands of years into the future and there's no way for us to get there. I can't travel through time without that pen, period.

"_You can't lose hope Kousagi_."

"Hope?" I questioned, laughing bitterly. "Crimson, I've never had hope for anything, except the possibility of saving my mother from bringing an end to herself through me." There's a smile on my face as my knees give out and in the next second I've unlatched the sash that holds the sheath to my body.

"_Hold on! What are you doing?"_

"You know exactly what I'm doing," I answered, my smile widening as I slowly removed the sword from the sheath. "Before Pluto gave me that pen, I only lived because my sister needed me, but now I can't go back to Crystal Tokyo. There's no way for us to return there." Sighing I stared into my aquamarine eyes as reflected in the blade. As always, they looked empty and filled with sorrow.

I've always hated my eyes.

"Long ago, I understood the possibilities of failing in my self-appointed mission to stop my existence from happening," I continued, allowing myself to sink into the depths of despair, "but I took comfort in knowing that even if I failed, I'd still have someone to live for, someone who needed me, but now...there's no point. There's no way for me to reach Rini anymore. I ruined everything again."

Crimson's voice was quiet when I extended the blade out in front of me. "_Kousagi, I am a tool, a mere object, even if I am part of you. If you've made up your mind, I won't stop you from doing this. However, I have to say I'm disappointed with how weak you are, that so little can send you reeling to the point of suicide. You're a whiny little coward._"

Bending my arm I begin to bring the blade down toward my left wrist, my smile brightening every second the tip of it loomed closer.

"My entire life I've contemplated this, have dreamt about the moment when I would end my existence in some form or another," I told her, "whether through slitting my wrist, shooting myself in the head, overdosing on sleeping pills, and my personal favorite, convincing my mother to abort me as soon as I'm conceived." An unhinged sounding laugh fell from my lips as I continued to drag out the seconds before the long-awaited moment of truth. "Crimson, in any of those cases, my death has been the goal. I just figured saving everyone else the suffering was a better way to go, a less selfish way."

Finally I dug the blade into my skin, sliding it backwards down the length of my arm and smiling as blood gushed out in a stream down my left hand. The unbearably hot burning sensation was irritating, almost drove me to tears, but I welcomed the pain. This bout of suffering is nothing compared to what I've been through in the past and what I'll go through once I reach the depths of Hell.

For some reason I can't bring myself to feel sad about that, even knowing that agony is all that awaits me. Perhaps I belong in that realm of horrors.

"_You're insufferably weak Kousagi Chiba._"

Placing the bloodstained sword next to me I lay back in the grass, staring up at the sunset as the wait for the end began.

* * *

About ten minutes earlier

Something's wrong.

I can't put my finger on what it is or why. Today has been great. Instead of being locked in my room studying all day, I got to have a picnic with mom, a rarity in itself, and play with Icarus while Mom started cleaning up the mess of our picnic area in the large meadow a few miles from our house. She was being unusually lenient with me today, allowing me to play around and get dirty. She's not normally happy with the idea of me playing with Icarus either, stating that he's technically a wild animal and could turn on me and tear me limb from limb at any moment, but Icarus has always been a really gentle creature and a great friend too. By now Mom is used to him hanging around, but usually she's a bit more wary of him.

She's definitely acting strange, the idea of Dad being gone on Valentine's day probably getting to her. Mom calls herself a hopeless romantic on a daily basis, saying she wishes on each star every night for Dad to return safely so she can beat him over the head with a frying pan for leaving, making her think he was dead again, and for staying away for over a year...

I'm not sure how that's being hopelessly romantic, but to refute my mother on such a matter is a very dangerous thing. When it comes to my mother, from time to time, silence is golden.

Grandpa had managed to make it out to our picnic too believe it or not and was helping Mom clean up while exchanging memories about Dad's mishaps with this holiday. Apparently my dad really struggled to remember important dates, like their anniversary and on one occasion, Mom's birthday. I can't recall him ever forgetting my birthday, but Mom's wrath became legendary throughout the land the day he forgot hers. Frieza wasn't nearly as scary in comparison.

Another part of the leniency she was extending probably had to do with her being distracted by the memories of those simple times. She'd hardly stopped laughing during the entire picnic. I'll have to thank Grandpa for that later. It's nice to see the more easygoing side to her personality. Mom's odd behavior may have been a little unsettling at first, but I knew it'd only be for the day. She'll be back to her normal, slightly overbearing self tomorrow. So, needless to say, I should soak up as much fun as I can.

But I can't.

Something just doesn't feel right. At first I thought I felt this way because of Mom, but now I know there's something else bugging me, something much more important. The only problem is that I can't begin to pinpoint what.

Icarus yelped, flapping his wings a little more forcefully to gain my attention as we flew through the orange hued sky. I smiled at him, keeping my worries to myself when I asked, "Do you want to go to the waterfall, Icarus?"

With a slight screech he flew a little higher, sounding almost as worried as I felt inside. A while ago I felt a strange energy signal, but it came and went so quickly that I dismissed it at first. Could it be my initial concern over it is making me anxious now?

After thinking it over, I decided against it. These feelings were prevalent inside me when I couldn't sleep last night too, so a random energy spike couldn't possibly be...

Icarus' sudden screech snapped me from my thoughts. I was about to ask him what was wrong, but then I felt it. Someone's energy was dropping. The energy signal felt like the one I sensed earlier, but instead of increasing, it was decreasing, fast.

_"I don't like this,_" I thought, watching as Icarus started flying toward the meadow filled with daffodils. The dropping energy signature is about two miles away from it, near the river. Nodding at Icarus I flew a little faster through the sky, noting that another energy signal was closing in on my right, but rightly assumed that this new signal wasn't a threat.

"Hi, Mr. Piccolo!" I called, inclining my gaze backward, pausing in my flight toward the decreasing energy signal to face him. He wore his usual training garb, a violet colored gi with his white, weighted cape over it and a white turban on top of his head. There was a scowl on his face, as per normal, but today there was an edge of concern in his dark eyes.

Halting his flight, he floated before me, saying, "Hey kid, you may want to hang back for this one." He turned his gaze toward the direction of the depleting energy.

"Hang back?" I questioned, blinking in confusion as Icarus flew towards the meadow without me. "What do you mean? That energy signal is fading really quickly Piccolo. Whoever it is could be in some real trouble."

Piccolo narrowed his gaze. "Gohan, tell me, did you feel that spike of ki earlier?"

"Yes, I did."

"And do you agree that the energy signal felt similar to the one you're feeling now?"

Sighing I followed his gaze. "Yes. It feels the same. Why do you ask?"

"Because of the sheer size of that energy before it dissipated," Piccolo answered, his green skin looking a little more green than usual. "The spike was probably too quick for you to have sensed it, but the energy put out was almost as powerful as Frieza's." He shifted his gaze back toward me. "That's why I came here. We might have a new enemy on our hands. Without your father around we're in for some trouble if they're anything like that monster." He paused, a slight knot forming in the middle of his forehead as he narrowed his gaze toward the energy signal again.

"It's dropping so fast though Piccolo," I told him, anxiety rising inside me to the point of being unbearable when the energy dropped to a critical level. "Come on, we're wasting time."

"Gohan, wait!" From behind me I heard him growl as he powered up, following behind me as I flew toward the meadow once more.

Piccolo is my mentor and a person I deeply respect, but there's a line between being cautious and paranoid. The fact is that we don't know who's down there and we can't jump to conclusions without investigating the problem first. I'm sure he knows this, but wanted to spare me whatever gruesome sight might be down there. Kids my age can't begin to comprehend the horrors I've seen nor would I ever wish them to know the traumas of being helpless to save your friends and family when they're right next to you, dying at the hands of a monster.

I don't want to face that trauma ever again. Even if it's a stranger, I don't want to let someone die ever again.

* * *

A/N: And that ends this chapter. I told you Kousagi was messed up in the head, but has she succeeded in suicide? To find out, you'll have to read the next chapter. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day! Be sure to review too.

One other thing before I go, man is Gohan a hard character to write for! I don't know why, but I just had so much trouble with is section this time around, especially when I brought Piccolo in. I don't know how well I did, but I gave it my best shot. If you see a way for me to improve on this, feel free to tell me. Constructive criticism is welcome.


	7. The End?

A/N: This chapter is going to have some touches of humor, but overall this is going to be an angst, mystery mode sort of chapter.

Warnings: A Team Four Star reference for the win! (I promise I won't do this often, but I absolutely had to in this chapter. I just couldn't stop myself.) This is also a mid-length chapter so it's not too long or too short...I don't think. I'll let you guys be the judge of that. By the way, thanks to all who have read and reviewed so far. I really appreciate the support.

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or Sailor Moon. The changes to Kousagi's personality and appearance are a collaborative effort from me and my friend Princesa De La Luna.

Chapter 7

The End?

Piccolo landed slowly on the rolling hills of the meadow Gohan had landed in seconds earlier. He walked at an even slower pace, watching his protégé as he knelt by a woman lying in the soft grass. Gohan's pet dragon of sorts, Icarus, was on the other side of the woman, nuzzling her extremely pale face.

"_She's definitely looming toward death's door_," he thought, increasing his pace just a bit as Gohan threw down the small brown backpack he'd been carrying. For once the boy seemed grateful for his mother's overbearing ways as he retrieved a first-aid kit from within the recesses of the bag. Opening up the white case, he removed a giant roll of ace bandages as well as a small bottle of peroxide.

As Piccolo finally stopped behind the boy, he noted the reason for his rushed actions. There was a hideous gash on the girl's left arm with blood pouring out like a stream that Gohan was now trying to stop. The wound was fresh seeing that there wasn't a huge puddle on the grass yet, but it was still a deep wound, one that would promise death if not handled quickly and accurately.

Piccolo felt oddly proud of Gohan's ability to completely ignore the gruesome nature of the wound as he tended to it, staining his hands in a crimson red as he tried to stop the bleeding. The sight of blood wasn't a new thing for Gohan to see. He'd been through some traumatic things in his short life, but to rush to the aid of a stranger who more than likely did this to themselves-if the bloodstained sword in the girl's right hand was any indicator-was a testament to Gohan's selfless and compassionate nature.

Gohan didn't speak to Piccolo, focusing all of his energy into stopping the bleeding, which was slowly becoming more excessive. For a moment he was grateful he'd read on how to handle wounds like this in a book recently, otherwise this girl would have been done for. At the rate she was bleeding now, that could still happen.

"Do you think a senzu bean could help her?" Gohan asked suddenly, gaining Piccolo's attention, whose thoughts had trailed off toward the stability of the girl's mental state.

He answered quickly. "Probably." He turned away, "But Korin may not be inclined to hand any over to me if I ask him." Smirking he silently added, "_Then again, I'm sure he felt that massive spark of energy and would be interested in finding the source of such power. He won't believe it came from a puny teenage girl with an apparent death wish. I can barely believe it myself..._"

Piccolo's thoughts trailed off when he noted another energy signal headed toward them: Krillin's.

The short, bald monk landed on the ground a minute or so later, a shocked expression on his face upon noting Piccolo, Gohan, and Icarus hovering over a young woman.

"Hey guys," he began, sounding utterly confused as he approached the scene. "I'm guessing you two sensed that wild energy earlier..." he trailed off, staring at the pale girl with raven locks and bleeding arm. "Don't tell me it came from her?"

Gohan didn't answer, too preoccupied with trying to slow down the bleeding or stop it entirely.

Piccolo turned, taking his escape from having to visit the fat white cat. "Krillin, do me a favor and go to Korin's for a senzu bean. This girl is in desperate need of one."

Krillin nodded, glancing toward the girl again. "Sure, but...how did she end up here? What's going on guys, come on! As soon as I felt that energy I rushed over from Master Roshi's. I mean, that surge was massive! Surely the two of you know something about this girl..." he trailed off, noting the bloodstained sword, "other than the fact she tried to kill herself..."

"Ask questions later," Piccolo replied, cutting him off as Gohan began to wrap the ace bandages tightly around her wrist. "There isn't time to waste. Go!"

"Aaaah, okay, okay!" Krillin yelled frantically, turning away to take off in the direction of Korin's tower. "Take her to your place Gohan, I'll be there with the senzu bean in less than an hour, guaranteed!"

Piccolo let out a sigh, watching as the bald monk flew away. "_He's going to take a least two hours._" Turning back toward Gohan, he said, "Listen, we'll help this girl now, but I'll be keeping watch. If she makes one move to destroy this planet, I'll rip her head off."

Gohan didn't hear him which definitely peeved the Namekian, but he digressed from repeating himself. It was beneath him.

"You're going to be okay now," the child muttered, tying the bandages more tightly, having finally stopped the bleeding thanks to the pressure he'd already placed on the wound. "I don't know if you did this to yourself or not, but if you did then you should know that what you nearly succeeded in was a very selfish thing to do."

Piccolo, with his keen hearing, listened as Gohan spoke to the unconscious girl.

"I can't explain how I know, but I'm certain you have a family and friends who love you," he continued, a few beads of sweat dripping from his brow. "And no matter the circumstances you should try to see the good things about your life instead of what's wrong, if not for yourself then for those people. Life is one of the most precious gifts given to us. I can't understand why you'd want to throw it away."

Silence met those words, but Gohan and Piccolo were both shocked by the slight rise in the girl's ki. Icarus blinked his wide green eyes, nuzzling his head to the side of the girl's cheek, even going so far as to lick it when her eyelids began to flutter, her breath shaking as she exhaled one word.

"Because..."

Whatever else she wanted to say trailed off as she continued to breathe a bit more evenly, the lack of blood loss helping in bringing some color back to her cheeks. Piccolo stepped closer, bending down next to Icarus as he and Gohan both examined her, waiting for her to say something else.

Eventually her eyes fluttered open, revealing two dull, aquamarine orbs that locked squarely on Gohan's. The boy nearly staggered away in response, thoroughly freaked and entranced by the intensity of her stare.

Her gaze moved seconds later, landing on the green man.

The girl was clearly out of it, a wispy chuckle slipping past her lips as she stared at the Namekian. "Look at that..." she breathed, "a Yoshi..."

She passed out on the spot, making Gohan think that she'd just died on them. Thankfully, when he checked for a pulse, she had one.

Of course, Gohan knew that she might not have one for much longer because...

"That's it!" Piccolo sneered, holding his index and middle fingers in front of his forehead as he jumped to his feet. "I've had it with the stupidity of this girl. If she wants to die, fine! I'm all for it!" Sparks began to fly from the tips of his fingers. "Special beam..."

"Piccolo no!" Gohan shouted, waving his hands frantically in front of his face while Icarus flew off toward the sky, wisely choosing to evade the beam the green man was preparing to fire. "Don't! Please don't do that!" With widening eyes he added, "She can't..." Gohan didn't have any good excuses to throw at the Namekian, so he threw out something stupid.

"She can't dodge!"

Piccolo's expression deadpanned, his fingertips still sparking with electricity. "Kid, I taught_ you _how to dodge, so when I attack, move out of the way or prepare to die."

Gohan glared at him, his onyx eyes reflecting avid disappointment.

"Fine!" Piccolo shouted, exasperation filling his gruff voice as he lowered his hand to his side. "_I can't believe this. I, Piccolo, one of the most feared demons this world has ever known, is taking orders from the six-year-old son of my greatest rival._" He turned away from Gohan, embarrassed with himself for stooping to such a low level. It's true that he saw Gohan as his first real friend and even as an adoptive son to a degree, but for heaven's sake something is wrong with this picture.

Groaning the whole time, the green man knelt and picked the unconscious girl up bridal style, leaving the sword behind on the ground. Tossing the girl over his shoulder like a rag-doll, Piccolo grasped the hilt of the bloody blade with his right hand, studying it as Gohan brought the sheath to him. Along with his backpack he now carried a large duffel bag that belonged to the girl.

"What should we do with the sword?" Gohan asked, watching as Piccolo slid the blade into the sheath.

"I'll hang on to it for now," Piccolo stated, clutching the object in question tightly in his hand. "This girl obviously can't be trusted with it. If she wakes up and wants it back, she'll have to earn it." He began to float up from the ground. "Let's hurry back to your place."

Gohan nodded, a concerned scowl on his face as he began to lift into the air. "Yes sir!"

* * *

Later

"Get out of my house!"

Chi-Chi Son was obviously not a happy woman at the moment. She and her father, the man once known as the honorable Ox King, had finished packing up the picnic and had called Gohan back home at least an hour earlier. Though Chi-Chi was ready to search for her son five minutes after calling him back, her father reassured her that Gohan had probably flown out of hearing range and that he would come back before it grew dark.

Before leaving the picnic sight she had made sure to call out for her son a few extra times, angrily stating that she would give him double the amount of work to complete if he wasn't home within thirty minutes. Thoroughly pleased with her threat, she trudged the two-mile walk back to her house with her father close behind.

Upon returning to the house she bid her father goodbye so he could return to his home near Fire Mountain. After doing this she tucked herself away inside, deciding she'd occupy her time by cleaning the dishes they had dirtied up during the picnic.

Three minutes after she started, Chi-Chi heard the sound of the door opening. Automatically assuming that Gohan was at the door, she turned around, preparing to greet him as well as discipline him on flying out of hearing range against her wishes but stopped when her gaze met that of a disgruntled Piccolo, carrying a unconscious girl over his shoulder.

For a good two seconds she was frozen stiff, staring at the green man, the man who had kidnapped her son and kept him away from her for over a year...

Within those two seconds Chi-Chi resolved in her mind that it was high-time for some payback. So, completely ignoring that Piccolo was carrying a girl, whose left arm was slowly beginning to bleed out again despite Gohan's efforts to stabilize the wound, the wife of Son Goku grabbed a broomstick from the corner of the kitchen, and marching forward proceeded to smack the Namekian across the head with it.

"Out! Out! OUT!"

Gohan rushed into the house seconds later, carrying his backpack and the girl's duffel bag. He nearly cried out in embarrassment as Piccolo narrowly dodged his mother's impetuous swinging of the broomstick, shouting obscenities at random, having obviously conquered whatever fear she may have held for him. If Piccolo hadn't been carrying a unconscious girl, evading her attacks wouldn't have been an issue. Unfortunately, because he was burdened with the extra weight, he was having a more difficult time doing so, especially since he was attempting to explain the situation past Chi-Chi's incessant rambles of rage, as she knocked over tea-pots, knickknacks, and other such things.

Fifteen minutes of chaos later, Gohan and Piccolo, through joint efforts, were finally able to calm the raging woman down long enough to calmly and rationally discuss the problem at hand: the unconscious and now bleeding girl.

"Why didn't you take her to the hospital!" Chi-Chi shouted, pointing an accusatory index finger towards Piccolo after opening the door of the guest room. He walked in quickly, practically tossing the young woman on the bed as Chi-Chi continued to rant, "I'd think that would be common sense or am I wrong?"

Piccolo, desperately trying to regain his composure as well as some control over this aggravating situation, replied, "Krillin is on his way back from Korin's place with a senzu bean. As you know, this will heal the girl right away..."

"I don't care if she healed herself up right now!" Chi-Chi screamed, stalking into the room before ramming her index finger against Piccolo's chest. "It's my understanding that she did this to herself and that means she's depressed and deranged. My house is not a center for medical treatment, especially in the mental sense."

Groaning inwardly, Piccolo couldn't help but think, "_It aught to be with someone like you around._"

Gohan rushed into the room with some more bandages and a bigger bottle of peroxide as she finished speaking and nearly succeeded in brushing past her, but Chi-Chi, all leniency gone from her demeanor, reached down and simply tugged at the back of Gohan's shirt before he could get to the bed.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked, her attention completely locked on her son now. Piccolo used this opportunity to sneak past her having reached his limit of aggravation for the day. He figured Gohan could take care of the rest.

Said young boy inclined his gaze back at his mother, a pleading look crossing over his features. "Mom, please. She's bleeding out again. Someone has to help her or she'll..."

Chi-Chi interrupted him with an loud sigh as she glanced at the unconscious, dying girl lying on the bed. The blood was staining the sheets she had just washed yesterday. Though peeved that she would have to wash them again, she was more concerned with how quickly the young woman was bleeding out.

"_Gohan shouldn't see this_," she thought, turning toward him to take the items he'd brought from downstairs. "I'll take care of this now. You said Krillin is coming in an hour, right?"

"Yes...ma'am..."

Chi-Chi nodded her head in understanding, moving toward the small desk by the window. "Go wait for him downstairs. The senzu bean will heal her wounds but she'll still be weak from the blood loss." She paused as she grabbed a chair and moved it to toward the bed. In the next second she was sitting by the young woman, tending to her left arm. "She can stay here for tonight, but once she's I'm sending her to Bulma's. She's better equipped to handle this sort of thing. Better yet, I'll tell her take this girl to a mental institution straight away."

"Yes ma'am, I understand," Gohan replied, his frown lifting a little, though he felt bad that his mother wanted to place the young woman in an asylum. "Do you think she'll be alright until Krillin comes."

If Chi-Chi were to be honest she'd say she wasn't sure. From what she could see, there was severe damage to the main blood vessels in her wrist. At this point, the raven-haired teenager was lucky she was still breathing. It'd be a miracle if she lasted until Krillin arrived.

But being honest with Gohan, who stood in the doorway, hoping for said miracle, wasn't an option.

"Of course," Chi-Chi told him, wrapping more ace bandages around the wound, applying as much pressure as possible. "She's going to be just fine. Now, go downstairs and wait for Krillin. After he's come and gone it's straight to bed with you."

Gohan sighed, a look of concern still on his face as he left the room, slowly closing the door behind him. "Yes ma'am."

Once he was gone, Chi-Chi dove into tending to the girl's wound. Gohan had done a good job of temporarily stopping the bleeding, but now the girl was in serious trouble.

Outside the room, Gohan felt the decrease in ki. He was afraid for the girl, but he knew that worrying wasn't going to help the situation. Even knowing that, he still found himself worrying as well as wondering why. He couldn't comprehend why she would intentionally harm herself, especially if his assumptions were correct and her parents were frantically searching the countryside, looking for their daughter.

Unfortunately, his assumptions are not correct. In actuality, the girl's mother was dead and her father, though try as he might to convince her otherwise, could care less about whether she lived or died.

Gohan wouldn't know any of that though. He just knew how his parents were the few times he wandered off on his own when he was little. He knew how much they both loved him. Even with his father still on a distant planet in some other galaxy, Gohan held no doubt that his father cared and that he loved his family.

"_He just happens to love fighting more..._"

Gohan shook his head ridding himself of the misguided thought while wondering where it had come from. His father loved to fight and face off against powerful opponents, but that was just part of his Saiyan make-up and held no value in comparison to the lives of his friends and family. The young half-saiyan understood that clearly and yet...

Clenching his hands into tight fists, Gohan firmly shook away the doubts fighting to climb into his mind, choosing to focus all of his energy to hopping down the stairs. He wasn't about to let anything sway him into thinking that his father was purposely avoiding his family. No, he knew better than to entertain such a thought, especially after having fought alongside him against Vegeta when he attacked Earth and Frieza on Namek. If there was any room left for doubt after taking those things into account, then Gohan knew to think of the moment when Frieza killed Krillin and how his father reacted in response.

Prompted by the loss of a friend, Son Goku became the legendary Super Saiyan Vegeta had so adamantly preached about during his own battle with Frieza. Gohan remembered the sight well, how a gold aura surrounded his father, encasing him in light as his hair stood on end, the dark irises of his eyes disappearing as he screamed out before returning again, the onyx color replaced by a teal blue.

Remembering that moment reminded Gohan that his father would always cherish the people in his life, that nothing would ever be more important to him than their safety and happiness. His Saiyan instincts may influence him to a degree, but in the end, Goku would always be human, in mind and in spirit.

Reassured by this reasoning, Gohan finally hopped down the last two steps, a ghost of a smile tugging the corners of his lips as he made his way to the kitchen to look for a quick snack.

Meanwhile, flying through the darkening sky, Piccolo was mulling over what should be done about the mysterious girl they had stumbled across. Appearances didn't show her to be much of a threat, but if that power spike was any indicator, it was clear she could prove troublesome for all of them.

Glaring down he locked his gaze on the sheathed sword in his right hand. "_I get the feeling that this sword plays a big part in all this._" With a groan he lifted his gaze again. He increased his flying speed, hoping to cover some more ground before stopping to rest for the evening.

However, before he could begin to contemplate anything, a violent wave of heat surged through his right hand. Cringing he glared down at the blade again and had to bite back a gasp when his eyes locked on wild flames rushing up the length of his arm. Immediately he let go of the sword, allowing it to fall toward the cluster of trees as he attempted patting out the flames with his other hand as well as his cape.

After a minute or so he managed to pat out the flames entirely, escaping with only a couple mild burns. "_Well, that was interesting. I've never heard of a sword spontaneously combusting..._" With sudden terror he realized he'd dropped a fire hazard into the forest below him, but upon glancing down he saw that all the trees were still in tact, not a flame in sight.

"_What? How is that possible?_" Piccolo wondered as he darted toward the ground, sweat beginning to gather at his brow as he landed. Walking briskly he searched the area with his eyes, hoping to spot the sheathed sword somewhere on the ground. After a few minutes of that he looked through a few of the trees but he came up empty again. The sword was no where in sight.

"_It fell right here!_" he mentally screamed, growing agitated once again. He continued searching for a few more minutes, unable to comprehend how it could have possibly disappeared when he had watched it fall into the area with is own eyes.

Elsewhere, Krillin was heading back from Korin's tower with a bag of senzu beans. He was thoroughly confused by the situation, but he wasn't concerned about it anymore. At this point, though close to the Son household, he was worried that he wouldn't make it in time. The girl's ki was dropping way too fast.

"_I don't know who you are, but try to hang in there_," he thought, increasing his speed to the maximum level, leaving a streak of white through the sky.

As for the young woman...

* * *

A/N: Don't you just love a good cliffy! Though with Krillin being Kousagi's only hope at this point...What do you guys think? Is Kousagi doomed or will Krillin pull out a miracle? Step right up and place your bets folks and in the next chapter we'll see what we get. Thanks for reading, be sure to review, and I'll try to post these updates faster for you!

Also, since this particular story of mine is focused a bit more on the drama, I'm going to put up some more advertisements for you here. Some will be my stories from various fandoms and others will be stories by other authors from various fandoms. Some are drama but others are humor stories. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!

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My stories

1. A Date With Destiny  
After a friend leaves the Juban District, Rei Hino feels that she is without a purpose. She soon recieves a message from a mysterious voice in her vision and travels to Area 11 to find an old friend and to discover the truth about her past. However, what she does not realize is that traveling to this new world will change the very nature of her destiny. UNDER REVISION

Crossover - Sailor Moon & Code Geass - Rated: T - English - Drama - Chapters: 94 - Words: 316,030 - Reviews: 111 - Updated: 12/5/2010 - Published: 10/9/2009 - Rei H./Raye/Sailor Mars - Complete

The above story is the first story I wrote on this website, so the writing quality of it isn't like this one, but slowly it gets better if you can handle the initial grammar issues it has. If you guys love Sailor Moon crossover's though, and know of Code Geass, you can probably get into it. Check it out. (And if you haven't seen Code Geass, go watch it today! It's amazing!)

2. Surviving Through Changes  
After leaving Japan, Mina Aino finds herself in a desperate situation. Her father is dying, her mother is starting to abuse her, and is in desperate need for money. Then she's invited to The Duelist Kingdom Tournament for an opportunity to save her father.

Crossover - Sailor Moon & Yu-Gi-Oh - Rated: T - English - Drama/Romance - Chapters: 100 - Words: 447,538 - Reviews: 274 - Updated: 2/8/2012 - Published: 11/21/2009 - Minako A./Mina/Sailor Venus - Complete

The above story is also an older story, so it has some grammar issues in the beginning that I haven't gotten around to fixing, but if you don't mind that, go take a look.

3. That's One Sadistic Kuriboh  
Randomness is the fantasyland for abridgers everywhere; a place where jokes make no sense, references are the key to comedy, and the plot is abandoned. Enter the world of Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged, a place similar to the description provided, but now everything has been flipped according to the will of one sugar-high college student. What insanity shall ensue? Find out...if you dare.

Yu-Gi-Oh - Rated: T - English - Parody/Humor - Chapters: 1 - Words: 2,049 - Reviews: 5 - Updated: 5/12/2013 - Published: 5/12/2013 - Kuriboh & Yūgi M. - Complete

If you guys know Team Four Star, then you know Little Kuriboh and his work from Yu-Gi-Oh abridged. The above story is dedicated to that crazy abridged world and is pure, meaningless humor.

Stories by other authors

1. Stitched in Blue ~by Yaji's Girl  
The night before the Cell Games, Chi-Chi realizes that her husband and only child have changed more than she could ever have imagined.

Dragonball Z - Rated: T- English - Family/Romance - Chi-Chi & Goku - Words: 7,213 - Reviews: 9- Favs: 29 - Follows: 3 - Published: 04-04-11 - Status: Complete - id: 6878251

2. Hall of Fame ~by nofreakingway  
A few years after the Cell Games, Chichi decides that it's a good idea for Gohan to attend Junior High like a normal teenage boy. But when he meets the Sailor Scouts and a new enemy arises, he wonders if his life will ever be normal? DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or Sailor Moon, nor their respective worlds. However, all original characters and plot lines belong to me.

Rated: T - English - Adventure/Humor - Chapters: 21 - Words: 91,306 - Reviews: 91 - Favs: 43 - Follows: 49 - Updated: 4-10-13 - Published: 11-17-12

I've only read the first three chapters of the above story, but I love it so far. It's fast paced, it's funny, and introduces the conflict really fast. I plan to keep reading it and thought, why not refer it to all of you too. Good stories need to be shared.

3. Darkness Before the Dawn ~by Cyron  
Set after Sailor Stars and during the Androids/Cell saga. The sailor senshi are once again called to protect the world from evil. Only this time, it's not their world they will have to protect.

Dragon Ball Z/Sailor Moon - Rated: T - English - Chapters: 11 - Words: 70,458 - Reviews: 36 - Updated: 2-1-13 - Published: 3-10-11

The above story is one I haven't been able to read yet myself, but my good friend Princesa De La Luna highly recommended it to me and I thought I'd recommend it to all of you. She has excellent taste so you guys can trust in her judgement. I definitely plan on reading this story soon.

And that's all for advertisements. Thanks for reading this chapter guys. Be sure to check out these other stories too. Have a fabulous day!


	8. Scarlet Memories

A/N: Watch what happens. Many thanks to all who have read and reviewed so far and special thanks to Winter Goddess Yuki Onna and Miss Anonymous for your heartfelt, funny, insightful, and honest reviews. They really put a smile on my face. (Especially since you guys jacked up my review count from thirty to forty-one in one day.) And thanks to everyone else for all the support so far. You guys are amazing!

Warnings: Due to the graphic nature of this chapter, I'm rating this chapter **M**. At the end of this chapter, let me know if I need to jack up the rating of the story to **M** or if I can leave it at **T**. Right now, I'm not sure, so once you guys have finished reading, let me know. Also, since Kousagi has been turned into a somewhat off-balanced character. In certain situations she will say the first thing that pops into her head without censoring it. You'll see what I mean later.

One other thing, updates are going to be a bit slower now. With this story, I've posted at least once a week, but since I'm going on vacation starting tomorrow and the fact that I have some writer's block for this story, the next chapter is going to take a bit longer to finish. My apologies in advance.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Dragonball Z

Chapter 8

Scarlet Memories

Am I alive?

Am I dead?

Is this experience a hallucination or is it my own personal Hell?

The lines between reality and dream have blurred, leaving me in a state of confusion as my bare feet carry me across the rocky terrain of the mountains surrounding me. On my body I'm wearing a black scoop-neck t-shirt, denim shorts, and my mid-length black hair is tied in two pony-tails on the sides of my head. That little detail of whatever is going on was a little weird seeing that I haven't worn my hair in this style since I was eight.

Stopping in my trek, I look down at myself, realizing that I'm a little shorter and that my chest is completely flat. "_I must be reliving a memory._"

My theory was proven correct when I found myself standing on a beach a few minutes later. The sun was slowly descending down the horizon, its light barely sparkling in the long expanse of water. Closing my eyes I listened to the sound of the waves lapping along the shore as well as the seagulls flying overhead.

"_Yes_, _I remember this well_." Opening my eyes I step on the sand, relishing in the feel of the grains slipping between my toes. "_Rini used to bring me here all the time, but then..._"

The thought trailed off. I can't remember why we stopped coming here, only that we never came back after a certain point. Now that I think about it, I believe the memory I'm reliving is the last day we spent here.

My body moves without my consent then. Crouching down into the sand, my left hand reaches out for a pink seashell sticking out from it. Picking it up, my fingers dust off the sand covering the shell.

"_Something happens here doesn't it?_" I wondered, my body still moving despite the memories beginning to flash through my head. For a moment I tried forcing myself to move, to regain control, but it was no use. I was a prisoner inside my body, waiting for the blow of the blade slashing across my chest, just as it had then.

My aquamarine eyes focused on Rini coming toward me from the ocean, smiling and calling for me to join her in the water. Though silent I waved back at her while shaking my head in refusal. Back in those days I rarely spoke. In other instances, speaking and drawing any form of attention to myself had brought about unspeakable results. I kept silent after those times to keep from screaming out my anguish and sorrow, to protect Rini from the truth about our father.

I never realized it until now, but being a prisoner inside my body isn't really a new thing for me.

Rini and I were always accompanied by an entourage, more for my sake than for hers...

And on that day one of those guards betrayed us.

The sound of a sword being pulled from its sheath resonates in my ears. My sharpened senses scream at me to move away, that danger is directly behind me, but my body won't listen to me. Instead of moving my fingers continue to draw patterns in the sand.

Though my eyes are on the sand now, I know that Rini is moving toward me as fast as she can though she may as well be moving in slow motion. She screams out my name and I stand, my lips moving up into a warm smile I reserved for her until I noted the panic rising in her crimson eyes. When she screams again my body tenses, knowing that something is wrong, that a threat is looming from behind.

The next few seconds pass in slow motion as my body turns to meet the threat. The guard, adorned in the garb of our most trusted knights, stood with his sword raised high in the air.

I've never been able to recall the man's name or the intricate designs etched in the clothes he wore. Remembering those details holds no meaning for me anyway; however, there's one thing about this moment that has always haunted me, more than the look of the blade as it came down towards me, the burning pain I felt when it slashed across my chest in one swift motion, or the sight of my blood staining his clothes and the sand below my feet.

What haunts me is the pure venom reflected in his amber-colored eyes.

Staring up at him now, reliving the moment he slashes my chest open, I take all of him in, committing every detail of his face to memory. His skin is tan, contrasting with his perfect white teeth, the smile he sported vindictive and filled with malice. He had a medium-sized nose, high cheek bones, and short maroon colored hair that swept over his left eye, nearly hiding it from view while the rest of it spiked out at the base of his neck.

Even noticing all of this though, I can still only register his eyes. They were beautiful eyes, the amber color almost looking golden in the light of the sun. Those same eyes brightened when my blood splattered on his face, a dark chuckle falling in a hiss from his lips in the same moment.

I feel myself dropping to the ground, the blood on his sword meeting my gaze as it happens. When this event in my life occurred, Rini transformed into Sailor Moon-having long since ceased in calling herself Mini-moon-and began to pummel him with every energy blast she could muster from a magic harp she had acquired ages ago. If not for the other guards of our entourage begging for her to show restraint and spare me the gruesome sight of her killing someone, she probably would have annihilated him on the spot.

Of course, later on, all the other guards were severely punished and stripped of their positions for allowing it to happen. With the testimony Ami gathered, it was clear that every one of them were just as corrupted as my attacker.

I never found out what happened to him, but it's probable that his punishment was a private execution.

Still, as I regain some control over my body, I notice that my memory has shifted, that Rini is no longer here, nor is the entourage. Now it's just me and this man.

He stares down at me, his eyes void of warmth despite the comforting color. My blood continues to stain the ground, but I don't feel the pain of the wound anymore.

With a groan I push myself up on my elbows, wincing as blood oozes from the fresh diagonal cut that began at the top of my left shoulder and ended in between my breasts, which have miraculously returned. Thankfully the shirt I'm wearing isn't damaged enough to show anything. Flashing my bare chest in front of a man who once tried to kill me definitely isn't something I want to be doing. Looking down at my legs I notice that they're a little longer now too.

The man before me chuckled, forcing me to look back at him. "So, did you like reliving that little memory? It's sad that you remember so little about me, especially since I nearly killed you."

Narrowing my gaze back down on my chest I notice that the fabric of my shirt is weaving itself back together, hiding the ugly scar I've grown accustomed to seeing every day. "_That makes things clear then. I'm dead and locked in a purgatory of suffering. Nothing new about that. I can deal with it._"

The man laughed again, almost as if it were a response to my thoughts. "Not quite my dear. You aren't dead...yet."

Fully recovered and thoroughly peeved, I stood, fixating my glare toward his eyes. "Then what are you doing here? As far as I'm concerned you're dead, a mere memory embodied before me as a means of torture."

He smiled, watching me as I turned my back on him. "Well, you would be wrong. Though your sister wished for my demise, I was cleared of treason thanks to a little help from some friends."

I didn't believe his words for a second but instead of voicing my disbelief I let him carry on. There wasn't anything in particular I needed to do, since I'm certain that I'm dead. At this point I'm just waiting for the next horror to fly up from nowhere.

"One of those friends was your father..."

A quiet, involuntarily gasp slipped past my lips, forcing me to snap my gaze back at the man. He's just one of the many people who had attempted assassinating me. I don't feel any anger towards him or the others for it. After all, my mutual hate for myself is why I'm here. Still, this guy's words struck a chord inside me, dug up an emotion I couldn't name.

No, that's a lie. I can identify the feeling fine. What troubles me is why I feel this way.

"You're not inclined to believe me I'm sure," he muttered, his gaze boring into the back of my head."

He was right, I didn't believe him, rather I didn't _want_ to believe him. I know that my father, the once great King Endymion a.k.a. Darien Chiba, despises my existence. He hates knowing the love of his life died because of me. Each breath I take is a reminder of his loss, a symbol of his despair.

Even so, I never thought that he completely hated me. He took out his frustration on me, abused me verbally, sometimes physically, but if he really hated me I don't think he would have dealt with me for so long. If he really hated me he would have killed me long before now.

"Endymion holds the image of being an honorable and sensible man."

Snapping myself from my thoughts, I locked my gaze on his again. "Tell me your name and what you want from me."

Smirking he seats himself on a nearby rock. "Already making demands? Don't you want to hear the rest of my tale?"

Quite frankly I didn't, but voicing this was too much of a struggle for me. Suddenly I couldn't breathe properly and for a good minute I focused all my energy on trying to regain my breaths.

With another chuckle he lifts up his right foot, curving his leg so he can rest it on his left knee while waving his right hand through his maroon locks. "Tell me this little girl. How do you think your father would look if he murdered you in cold blood, knowing that his wife died just to bring you into this world? He would look rather bad wouldn't you say?"

My breaths turned erratic as I lowered myself to the sand again, hoping to distract myself by drawing a pattern or two. Anything would do as long as I could drown out this guy's words because to acknowledge the truth...to accept it and not the lie I've created in my mind is far too painful.

"So, he attempted to be a father to you," the man continued, much to my distress. "He raised you and though he took out some of his stress on you, he made you believe that he loved you to a degree, or am I wrong?"

"Shut up." That was the only reply I could give.

The man eyed me with intrigue but didn't address my words, instead choosing to keep pressing the issue. "The truth is that he wanted you dead from the start along with many others. I never saw why. So your birth brought about the death of your mother. It happens to other families in all walks of life. I don't see a reason for the remaining parent of your pathetic little family unit to have a mental break, but that is all my perception."

Haven't I been through enough? Why can't I escape this madness?

"Neo Queen Serenity had staggering powers much like yourself, but other than that she wasn't anything special."

Those words sent me reeling.

"Don't you dare talk about my mother that way!" I screamed, staggering to my feet, all worries about my erratic breathing gone. "My mother was a beautiful, kind, and noble woman who unified the awful people in this world. She brought an end to chaos and confusion..."

"And gave birth to it all over again..."

His words stopped me mid-tirade and forced my mouth closed. There was no way to refute his point because it was the truth. The day she gave birth to me was the day chaos descended on the Earth. War has torn through the kingdom of Crystal Tokyo and no matter how much effort I put into making a difference, to changing people's view of me in hopes of giving Rini a fair chance to sway them to her side, it simply doesn't work.

"Don't you hate me as well?" I asked.

The man's answering grin sent cold shivers down my spine. "I despise all of your kind."

Raising an eyebrow, I eyed him suspiciously. "You say that like you're not human."

His grin turned carnal, almost as if he wanted to eat me alive right then and there. "Perceptive girl." Rising up from his place on the rock he took a few steps toward me. My body tensed but I made no move to retreat. That would be a sign of weakness and I don't intend to give this guy the satisfaction of knowing he's frightened me.

"Humans are weak creatures of emotion," he stated, his gaze boring into mine, "easily fooled by sugar-coated words and smiles, never inquiring, never seeking to know what lies beneath the layers of lies." His right hand reaches to cup my cheek, laughing when I involuntarily cringe at his touch. Though he appears human, his bare skin feels slimy and scaly. He feels like a snake.

His fingers gently caress my cheek as he speaks, his voice sounding like a soft hiss. "You're a smart girl." Leaning forward, he tightens his grip around my chin, bringing my face closer to his against my will. Still, even as fear rises inside of me I know to keep my emotions in check, to stand firm when he speaks again, saying, "I am an artificial creation made by a deranged scientist. He had an odd fascination for snakes, especially the anaconda for which my name is derived."

Gasping I breathed, "Your name is Anaconda?"

He nodded. "Before losing his mind he collected a wide array of snakes, from the harmless garter snake to the deadly cobra." Pausing he narrows his gaze on mine. "He conducted many experiments on my kind to gain riches and power. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't good a hiding some of his more...outlandish ideas."

Regaining my nerve, I shoved Anaconda away from me, leaping to put as much distance between us as I could without falling out of hearing range. After landing I asked him what kind of ideas this madman had, what he was getting at through this explanation, though at this point all I really want to do is sprint for the hills.

In my life I've faced off against powerful armies with only my powers and a sword without any traces of fear, I've survived multiple coup d'état attempts against my family and I survived through the poundings of rouge Sailors from across the galaxies. When I came to the age where I could stop father's abuse, I still allowed him to continue on with it, feeling nothing all the while. I smiled each day for my sister, never allowing her to see the scars he had left me with nor did I feel any shame for having those scars. I deserved them for what I did to my mother.

But with this guy, this thing named Anaconda...he's different. He didn't try to kill me because of what happened to Mom or even because he just hates me. He did it because...

Interrupting an explanation I didn't hear, I asked, "Why did you aim to kill me? Did my father ask you to? If so, then why did you comply with his request? You hate all humans, right?"

Anaconda smirked as he began to walk toward me. "I complied because you were the only hope your world had of stopping me. You see, my goal is to eradicate humankind from all realms, starting with ours."

I took a step backward, my pride forgotten as fear welled up inside of me again. "Why? I don't understand!" Backing away my mind screamed, "_Get ahold of yourself Kousagi! Nothing he says matters. This is just a torture method. Your life holds no meaning now. You're dead! You killed yourself! You decided to subject yourself to endless torture so don't act surprised, just shut up and deal with it!_"

"I already told you that you aren't dead and if you had listened earlier you would know exactly why I'm doing this."

Anaconda was only inches away from me when I glanced up. I bit back a scream, attempting to leap away once more, but this time he grabbed both of my wrists, holding them in a vice-grip that threatened to break my bones.

"I don't feel like repeating myself right now," he began, snatching away his painful grip on one of my wrists to touch my cheek again. My skin crawled at the touch.

"Let go."

Frowning he narrowed his gaze on my eyes, ignoring my demands. "The next time you sleep I will visit again to explain just what I am, but until then, I'll leave you with a gift: a glimpse into the future."

My breathing hitched when he leaned in closer, eyes on my lips.

I aimed my knee for his crotch, but he blocked it easily with his leg before sweeping my feet out from under me, slamming me to the ground. Before I could begin to defend myself, Anaconda descended on me, licking his lips with his thin tongue. With another smooth chuckle he pinned my hands over my head.

With a yell, I convulsed from beneath him, struggling to free myself with every ounce of energy I had, but I knew there was no point. Anaconda's grip was too strong for me to escape, just like a real Anaconda's grip would be.

His amber eyes sparked with agitation. "You know fighting is futile and yet you continue." He sighed as he leaned down, his lips moving closer to mine. "I'll never understand you humans."

"Just let go!" I screamed, wondering where the heck my charm bracelet had gone. If I were wearing it I would have transformed a long time ago and taken him out. In this state I don't stand a chance.

"Calm down," he breathed, the skin of his lips only about a hair away. "There are worse things to come than a kiss from a snake-man."

"I get the sinking feeling I'm about to find out," I groaned, closing my eyes tight in revulsion just as his lips crashed on mine.

I expected a lot of things to happen in those moments, with rape being at the top of my list.

I wish I could be grateful that my expectation wasn't met.

In the seconds that followed, my eyes flew open. Instantly I find my body surging through a void of swirling colors, almost like the space-time continuum I've often traveled through. Anaconda was gone and I could move freely. Initially I'm sure that the horror has ended, that I'm going to be okay, but then...

Without warning the swirling void is gone, placing me in the center of the garden outside the palace. White rosebushes surround me on all sides like always since Father had ordered for the red rosebushes to be disposed of years ago. Rain was pouring down from a dark sky which wasn't anything unusual. Rain is part of nature after all. A few birds chirped in the surrounding trees, snuggling in their nests for warmth.

The familiar surroundings calmed me. Smiling I walked around a bit, studying the flowers with no regard for the rain...

And then, from the corner of my eye, I saw it.

Splatters of blood stained the petals on some of the white roses toward the edge of the garden. My gaze followed the path of splatters toward the ground where a puddle of the scarlet liquid was quickly expanding.

"That blood," I whispered, barely stepping forward. The only life signatures I'd felt had been the birds and the plants so then...

Without thinking I ran toward the bloodstained rosebush, terror rising in my body when I stopped a short distance behind it for a short moment, afraid of what would meet my gaze.

I took slower steps forward then, following the path of blood.

"Oh, God!" My eyes watered and my hands flew over my mouth to stop myself from vomiting. Right at my feet laid the body of Sailor Venus, Minako Aino. Her arms outstretched, blood streaming between her fingers from two shoulder wounds. Her right leg was ripped clean off from the knee, leaving blood to ooze out of the rest of it, but the most disturbing thing about her corpse, what left me gasping was...

"_Where's her head_?" I questioned inwardly, tears spilling from my widening eyes as I stared at the bloody mass that was once Mina's neck.

I'm no stranger to corpses or disembodied heads, but this was Mina, my friend, a trusted confidant. She's one of the people I wanted to spare from suffering. To see her like this was almost more than I could take.

Glancing about I searched for Mina's missing head. My eyes locked on a tangle of blonde hair and a red ribbon lying nearby. Swallowing the putrid acid threatening to spill out of my mouth, I moved toward it, my legs nearly giving out on me on the way.

"_No...this isn't real_," I thought, my hands falling away from my face to rest by my sides as I stared down at it. The remaining skin on the head was deathly pale and the rest was an oozing mess of hair, blood, and brain matter. Empty eye sockets stared back at me, leaving me to question where her eyeballs had gone.

A glance over my shoulder gave me the answer.

I tried to fight it, but the scream escaped from my mouth when the visual of a giant anaconda bent its head down toward one of Mina's eyeballs fully registered in my mind. After hissing loudly the creature dug its teeth into it, chewing like a human would chew a steak before swallowing it whole.

Then it peered at me, those amber eyes all too familiar.

Fury and terror welled up inside of me. "That's enough you demon! Stop it!"

The monster hissed, its form shifting into the maroon haired man once again. This time he wore a suit of snake-skin armor, complete with a sword that was probably poisoned with venom.

Growling I poised myself into a fighting stance despite knowing that I couldn't transform and therefore didn't stand a chance. It doesn't matter. This freak of nature deserves a royal beat down and I'm going to give him one whether I have the ability to become Sailor Earth or not. He won't get away with this.

"But I will get away with it," Anaconda stated, smiling wickedly. "You see, my siege of Crystal Tokyo isn't going to happen for another six months. Sailor Venus is still alive and well for now, but I will kill her and the rest of your kind all in due time. I intend to rule all realms of the universe, but I'll start with yours since it was your people who made me this way."

"Wretched monster!" I screamed, my energy spiking. "Leave my friends and family alone!"

Anaconda laughed at me again. I'm really getting tired of that sound, it's sickening.

"I know what you really want to say. Well, let me make something clear to you girl. Only God has the power to condemn me little girl and he will not do so until the day of judgment. On that day I will gladly plummet to that fiery realm. It's where I belong."

There were a lot of things I wanted to say to that but I stayed silent, forcing myself to breathe evenly despite the rage welling up inside. If what Anaconda is saying is true and I'm not dead then there's still time for me to put an end to this nightmare before it can begin. Still, a part of me wishes I were dead and that this was just my punishment for tossing my life away.

A smaller part of me is glad to have a reason to live again.

"As for you," he continued, that snide smirk on his face widening. "Know your place in the order of nature, for God will judge you as well." With that said, his body lifted into the air. I rushed forward to punch him square in the jaw but ended up punching through air.

"Get back here!" I sneered, watching him rise higher through the air as a violent gust of wind blew through the garden.

"You are the only one who holds the power to stop me, but now that you've trapped yourself in another dimension, I can make preparations for my first move against humankind." With a vindictive smile he disappears into the black sky, calling out, "We'll meet again in tomorrow's nightmare."

The wind increased in intensity as soon as he was gone. Then, out of nowhere the Earth begins to shake underneath my feet.

"_My powers are going haywire...I've got to regain some control..._" I thought closing my eyes. "_If I'm still alive then please...let me wake up! Let me wake up now!"_

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Opening my eyes I bolt upward, my gaze meeting a cream-colored wall first. A few pieces of paper flew about near the wobbling bookcase by the window on my left, falling slowly toward the floor to meet the shards of a glass lamp that had been on the wooden nightstand next to this bed I'm sitting on. Cowering near the shards of glass with wide onyx eyes and knitted eyebrows sat a short, bald guy wearing an orange training gi with the Chinese symbol for a turtle embellished on the left side. He trembled in avid fear which was understandable given the state of this room.

My breathing was erratic as I snapped my gaze to the right of me, taking in two figures that were cowering by the door. The first was a woman, probably twenty-five years of age. She wore a purple Chinese styled uniform with pink pants and sleeves. Her hair was tied in a bun with a few pieces framing her pale face. In her arms she was holding on to a boy. His hair was the same raven color as hers but a little more wild. He wore a white t-shirt and blue overalls. I guess he's her son.

Unlike the bald guy and the mother, the boy met my gaze, blinking in confusion rather than fear.

Something about his gaze helped me to calm down but I couldn't say anything to him or his mother or the bald guy trembling in the corner. Somehow I get the feeling the bald one does that a lot.

After gaining some control of my breathing I stare down into my lap, feeling a familiar presence.

"_It's a good thing I can travel on my own, otherwise I'd be stuck with the Yoshi._"

My hand touches the sheathed blade laying across my lap. "_I'm sorry._"

The bald guy slowly rises up from his place on the floor. "Um...guys...that sword just appeared out of nowhere...I think we should consider running away now."

The mother of the young boy nodded, loosening her grip on her son just before passing out.

Well, one thing's for sure. I'm not in the stone age.

* * *

A/N: And that ends the chapter. So what do you guys think? Should I jack up the rating or should I just leave it be for now? Let me know. Other than that, you can see that we've introduced a new villain known as Anaconda.(Yes, I am notorious for creating OC's. Muhaha!) You also know that I purposely didn't elaborate on how he was created. Blame Kousagi, she wasn't listening, so you'll have to wait until another chapter to find out Anaconda's back-story which will be delved into later I promise. Anyway, thanks for reading and have a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful...oh yet get the point, go out and have a great day! And Happy 4th of July! In America! (Well, there's the Yu-Gi-Oh abridged reference. You guys knew it was going to happen at some point, right?)


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